Little Things
by happy45
Summary: Since they were 16 years old timing never seemed to be on their side. They caused each other pain, they were stubborn and full of pride... yet they loved each other through all of it. Sometimes it's the little things that remind you of someone's love. / Emron
1. 5 Minute Moments

**Hi everyone! So I've wanted to write something on Emily and Aaron for a while now but I've been lacking inspiration... so I figured instead of trying to come up with a full story, why not do a series of one shots were you guys can also have a say in what you want to see!**

 **I'm basing them in a world where Emily and Aaron got together after their kiss in 1x10 and there was no Aaron scandal and they were able to progress to being an official couple.**

 **So kicking off on the same time scale as Season 2, I'm thinking of doing scenes that we would have liked to have seen in the episodes and just random ones too!**

 **I hope that all made sense... so let me know what you guys want to see, and I hope you enjoy this first chapter, based on 2x01!**

* * *

 **5 Minute Moments**

* * *

Emily and Aaron walked through the corridors of the West Wing, discussing their previous meeting with Kirkman. It had been a particularly stressful day and both parties were trying their best not to bite at people who came to them with any kind of situation- major or minor.

"Devon Braverman called me from the Times called me asking for a comment by the way" Aaron informed Emily who eyed him quizically.

"Why would he call you?"

"Seth hung up on him- twice."

Emily sighed; "You don't hang up on a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist."

"Looks like our boy's going through a bit of a rough patch... anything I should know about?" Aaron asked.

"Nothing that won't be dealt with by the end of the day."

"Emily, there's a VA meeting in the Roosevelt room in 30 minutes" Sasha said as she walked behind the pair.

"Lenny's running point on that" Emily reminded her.

"Yeah but someone said Seth told him to stay there."

Emily sighed once again as she and Aaron rounded the corner and Sasha left them; "Right yes, sorry... Elias Grandy, Aaron can you handle it?" she said as she lifted out her phone.

Aaron stopped in his treks; "that's not my job."

Emily too stopped and turned to face Aaron; "True... but it's my job to make sure that trains are running on time around here, so technically you report to me, meaning your job just expanded."

Emily turned to walk away, but Aaron was quick to grab her arm and direct her to the nearest door on their left that led to an empty briefing room.

"Aaron what-" Emily began as Aaron shut the door behind them. Her back was to the door and Aaron trapped her in, placing his hands above her shoulders on the door, their faces only centimetres apart.

"You're stressed." Aaron stated simply.

"You think cause I'm bosing you around today I'm stressed?" Emily asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I think you're stressed because from the moment we left Kirkman's office to get here, you sighed 8 times." Aaron stated.

"You're counting my sighs now?" Emily said, softing her stare towards him.

"Love makes you do weird things" He said with a smirk, which Emily couldn't help but blush at.

Since they became an item around 6 months ago, Aaron and Emily had become very good at keeping things professional in work, but sometimes, 5 minutes was needed with just the two of them, to remind them that there was more in their lives than just the stress of the job, and it set them up nicely for the rest of the day.

"Aaron, I'm White House Chief of Staff, it's practically in my job description to be stressed." Emily reminded him, as she began fiddling with the lapels of his suit.

"I know and nothing is probably going to change that... but I just wanted to remind you that tonight, we're going to go home and we're going to order take out..." he said as he kissed one side of her neck; "then, we're going to take a long hot bath..." he said as he moved and kissed the other side of her neck. "and then, I'll even sit through a Nicholas Sparks movie. There may even be a foot rub on the cards." he said, placing a chaste kiss on her lips.

"Don't even pretend like you don't love Nicholas Sparks." she said with a pout.

"I love it because you love it" he justified, but they both knew the romantic in Aaron had a real soft spot for the movies.

Emily chuckled; "you are such a suck up... but that sounds amazing" she said as their noses grazed.

"Good" Aaron said quietly as he captured her lips in a more searing kiss, cupping her cheeks in his hands as Emily's hands wandered under his suit jacket.

After a few moments Emily pulled away slightly, their lips only grazing; "Ok we need to stop now or I won't be able to stop at all and we have to maintain some degree of professionalism around here..." she said as Aaron smirked against her lips.

"Right. I'll go find Elias Grandy" he said as he placed a kiss on her forehead, before opening the door and leaving.

Emily took a moment, as she straightened her skirt and took a deep breath. She smiled brightly as she left the room. It was the simple things like 5 minute moments in empty meeting rooms, that made her wonder if it was possible to love Aaron Shore more than she already did.

* * *

Kirkman and his staff couldn't quite believe it when they made it one year in the White House. There was still a lot to be done and fires to put out every day, but they loved their jobs, they loved the people they worked with, and they loved that they could make a difference.

Emily had been trying to convince the President to hire a political director for months now, and he finally agreed to meet Emily's old colleague Lyor Boone. What the rest of the senior staff weren't expecting, was to be accosted by him for the rest of the day.

Aaron walked into his office following a meeting with the Ukrainian Ambassador to find Lyor poking around the contents of his desk, in particular his photographs. He eyed him curiously as Lyor picked up one of him and Emily.

"Emily Rhodes and Aaron Shore. The perfectly poised White House couple. People love you even more than they love the president and the first lady. You two—are the face of the White House." Lyor noted. As soon as the press caught wind of Aaron and Emily's relationship, every news outlet in the media reported on it, and people loved it. A formidable duo in and out of the White House—people milked it up.

"It's an invasion" Aaron said, not loving the attention he and Emily got. They avoided reading articles as much as they could, but they couldn't always avoid cameras being shoved in their faces.

"Then of course there are the people who worry that your relationship gets in the way of real work being done." Lyor added as Aaron sat back in his chair with a sigh. "But that's no reason to fire you… right?"

"Is there a point to this?"

"As long as I have known Emily there's always been whispers of an Aaron Shore and those whispers soon turned into an 'everyone in Washington knows that Emily Rhodes and Aaron Shore are hopelessly in love.'" Lyor informed him. Aaron rolled his eyes, it seemed that everyone knew this fact before either of them did—or at least before either of them were willing to admit it.

"It's a well-established fact and it's never going away" Lyor said as he motioned to the picture of them yet again. "It's all about how you spin things. Politics is perception."

"Is there something I can help you with?" Aaron asked, growing tired of this analysis of his relationship.

"Yes, what product do you use?" Lyor randomly asked.

"Product?"

"Yes, on your face, your skin is luminous. Is it glycolic acid? Nightingale droppings? Pumice?" Lyor rhymed off.

"Soap and water." Aaron replied bluntly.

"Huh." Lyor said as he finally set Aaron's photo frame back on his desk. "Thank you. It's important the products we use. Kind of like the words we use, and the words this administration's using? No good."

Aaron sighed, deciding to humour him for 5 minutes—for Emily's sake. She was hopeful about this. "Any words in particular?"

"I'm compiling a list actually. I think there should be a lexicon of bad words. You think I should talk to Seth about that?"

"Sure. Telling a writer what words to use is always a good idea." Aaron replied sarcastically.

Lyor smirked; "I see why Emily likes you. That dry sense of humour—matches hers perfectly." He commented. "Oh, and the hotel that you met the Ukrainian ambassador at—terrible."

Aaron raised an eyebrow; "I'll make a note." He said through his teeth.

"Good—good talk." Lyor said before awkwardly leaving the room.

He lifted out his phone and dropped Emily a text.

 _I just met Lyor_

 _E- I hope you were nice_

 _I'm always nice, but it's not my fault he's temperamentally unfit or that he's not socialised._

 _E- Be. Nice._

 _He said my skin was luminous._

 _E- That's cause it is_

 _This is going to end badly._

 _E- Take the compliment and get back to work._

 _Yes boss…_

Aaron smirked as he set down his phone. Emily was smart. Incredibly smart. She knew what she was doing… right?

* * *

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	2. Keeping Up Appearances

**Hi everyone! Thanks to everyone who reviewed/favourited/followed. You're the best!**

 **Justicerocks- thank you for pointing that out to me, it didn't even cross my mind! We'll just say then that the scandal did happen, but they were able to move past it. I've decided that the next drabble will address this!**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoy this drabble, based on 2x02.**

* * *

 **Keeping Up Appearances**

* * *

It was the day of the White House Correspondents Dinner, and Aaron woke up to a feeling of butterfly kisses, making their way up his exposed arm to his neck and jaw. He kept his eyes closed and allowed a small smirk to grace his face.

"Emily Rhodes, are you trying to seduce me?" Aaron asked.

"I wouldn't really call it seducing when we both know you're going to give in easily." Emily countered.

Aaron quickly moved on top of Emily as she laughed and he attacked her lips with his without hesitation. Emily's hands roamed across Aaron's exposed back as Aaron moved his lips down her jaw and across her neck, moving the strap of her tank top to gain full access to her shoulder blade.

Emily snuck a quick glance at the clock and groaned; "We're going to be so late for work..."

Aaron's head shot up as their noses grazed; "Work? What work?" he teased as Emily laughed and soon gave into his kisses once again. "You have to finish what you started Rhodes..." he told her as he sat up, pulling Emily with him so she was straddling his lap.

"Well, you know I like to see things through to completion..." she responded as Aaron smirked.

Before they could continue, Aaron's phone started to beep like crazy and they both groaned in annoyance. Emily moved off Aaron's lap as he reached over to the bedside cabinet to check his phone.

"I'm afraid duty calls..." he said as he stood from the bed and walked towards the bathroom.

"What happened to finishing what you started Shore?" Emily teased as she lay back down in the bed.

Aaron looked at his girlfriend as she lay with a seductive smirk on her face.

"I can't believe the white house chief of staff wants me to stay in bed instead of attend to a national security issue." Aaron said with a laugh and a shake of his head.

"Hm... you're right, it's very uncharacteristic of me, but like you said yesterday, love makes you do weird things..." she said as she too climbed out of bed. "You know... we could preserve water and take that shower you were about to have together?" she said as she moved past him into the bathroom, snaking her hips as she went.

"You're going to be the death of me Emily Rhodes..." he said as he quickly walked into the bathroom after her.

* * *

Later that evening, Aaron made his way up to one of the bedrooms in the residence of the White House. Tom and Alex had allowed Emily to use the room to get ready for the White House Correspondents dinner to save her going home in case she was needed here.

He opened the door to the bedroom, while looking down at his phone; "Hey Em, we gotta... go." he said as he finally looked up and saw Emily, smoothing out the front of her dress while checking her reflection in the mirror.

Aaron found that the only thing he could do in that moment was stare at her. She was so beautiful and he couldn't quite believe in that moment that she was his.

"You're staring" Emily said, breaking him out of his trance. "It's creepy" she teased.

"I'm staring because you are so beautiful... that's romantic." he replied as he closed the door and walked towards her.

Emily shrugged; "if that's how you want to play it." she said as she moved over to the dresser and lifted her earrings, carefully putting them in place. "I guess you clean up well too..."

Aaron smirked and rolled his eyes playfully as Emily giggled.

Her giggling soon faded as she was reminded of the concern she was feeling before Aaron entered the room. "How's Mrs Booker?" Emily asked, worried about Kirkman's mother-in-law.

"She's ok, pretty shaken up. No one ever suspected that Lloyd would make this attack so personal."

Emily sighed as Aaron stood behind her and ran his hands up her arms, placing a kiss on her exposed shoulder.

"He's going after the president's family Aaron and we're having a dinner party? I know we have to keep up appearances but... it doesn't seem right." Emily confessed as she looked at Aaron through the reflection of the mirror.

"I guess that's the job. Sometimes you have to do stuff that you wouldn't normally do for the benefit of the country. You have to make your peace with that."

"I know. They're going to get Lloyd tonight." Emily said with certainty. "And the personal can be taken out of the equation."

"Exactly. For now, we have a dinner to attend." he said as he held out his arm and Emily hooked hers through with a soft smile.

Aaron kissed the side of her head as she melted into his side; "You really do look so beautiful tonight." he told her as they walked towards the door.

"Thank you, I love you" she said quietly as she rested her head on his shoulder for a moment.

"I love you too" he whispered against her hair, as they left the room, eager to present some degree of normality.

* * *

 **Don't forget to leave in the reviews what you would like to see next! I have a few ideas floating around in my head...**


	3. I'm Yours

**Thanks to everyone again for your reviews/follows/favourites! I know things suck for Emily and Aaron right now on the show so hopefully these little tasters will cheer people up a bit! I do have faith that things will work out for them on the show... don't give up watching just yet!**

* * *

 **So how did Aaron and Emily become a couple?**

* * *

 **I'm Yours**

* * *

A few weeks had passed since Aaron decided to leave the White House. He managed to score a job for Kimble Hookstraten and while it seemed crazy to most people around him, he was trying to make the most of it.

Apart from quick 30 second (and undoubtably awkward) conversations with Emily in the West Wing, there had been pretty much radio silence between the two- and it was driving them both crazy. They were both too stubborn to admit it, but another part of them just didn't know what to say. There was this huge unresolved issue between the two of them and their pride was standing in the way of making things right.

Emily didn't want to apologise- because that meant admitting that for a split second, she panicked that Aaron was in on the consipiracy. Aaron didn't want to admit that he had forgiven her the moment he found out, and didn't look at her any differently.

 _Damn pride._

It was approaching midnight in the White House and Emily sat at her desk, staring into space and tapping her foot. She had been dealing with Aaron a little bit today and the stoney strictness of the whole thing had been driving her crazy. She felt like her heart was about to burst out of her chest and all of her emotions were a split second from pouring out.

As she was about to try and push her thoughts to the back of her head, all it took was Aaron Shore to walk into the room, looking a little dishelved after a day of work, his top button out and a few curls out of place, for her stomach to completely sink.

"Here's those files you asked for" he said solemnly as he set them down on her desk and turned to walk away.

Emily didn't know what came over her in that moment, but she found herself standing quickly and shouting after him; "I'm sorry!"

Aaron stopped in his treks and slowly turned around; "What?"

 _"I'm sorry_. I'm sorry for _everything_. I'm sorry for thinking that you could have been involved in this, I'm sorry that I didn't say sorry sooner, I'm sorry that we never got to go to the Elvis impersonator at the 9.30 club." Emily said frantically as she sighed and closed her eyes. "I am not normally this girl, I don't really do... feelings as such, let alone bold declarations like this but... can't you see what you're doing to me? I'm a freakin mess! I can't take this indifference that we seem to think is appropriate between us, cause it's not! It can't be." she said looking down at her feet.

Aaron stood there, dumbfounded, unsure what to say. Honestly, he was unsure what Emily was trying to say, other than that she was sorry.

"Wha-what are you trying to say Emily?" Aaron asked quietly as she walked round from behind her desk.

"For the first time in my life I am going to allow myself to be vulnerable and I'm just going to tell you the truth... _I love you Aaron_. I don't even know when it happened, but it did, I fell in love with you and my heart can't take us not being something." She said as she stopped walking towards him, taking in his unreadable expression, and feeling herself recoil. "I guess I'm saying... I'm yours... and I won't give up on us again." she finished quietly.

Aaron continued to stare at her blankly, not really sure what to make of this. Emily Rhodes, always so poised and proper, was standing in front of him, letting her emotions pour out. It had always been him making the move towards her, but this time, he was the one on the receiving end of her care and... he was just staring her. _What are you doing Aaron? You love this girl, you are hers too, say something, anything!_

Emily looked down at her feet, taking his silence as something bad. He didn't feel the same way. She'd missed her chance, she'd screwed it all up. Aaron could see the clogs turning in her head, the pain that was flooding through her all because he didn't know what to say. So he did the next best thing he could. He quickly walked towards her, lifted her face in his hands and kissed her with all that was in him. Emily melted into his kiss, letting out the breath she didn't realise she was holding in, as they shared this intimate moment together.

They pulled away from each other, Aaron's hands still resting on her cheeks as they rested their foreheards against each other's. A tear slipped down Emily's cheek as Aaron instinctively moved his thumb and wiped it away.

"I'd give you my heart Emily... but I can't give you something you already have." Aaron responded as Emily let out a light and short laugh as she lifted her head to look up at him.

"Why the hell did you let me stand there worrying for so long?" she asked as Aaron smirked.

"I was shocked, I didn't know what to say... never did I think I would see Emily Rhodes pour out her emotions to me. I don't think people knew you had that many emotions in the first place..." he teased as Emily swatted his arm.

"I hate you" she said with a chuckle as she pulled away slightly.

"No you don't" he replied, pulling her back towards him.

"Just shut up and kiss me" she said, and he was only too happy to olblige.

Aaron pulled away for a brief moment and looked at her; "by the way... I love you too."

* * *

 **Don't forget to review with your prompt ideas...**


	4. Rumour Mill

**Rumour Mill**

* * *

"Is it true?" Seth asked as walked into his friend's office.

"Is what true Seth?" Aaron asked, not looking up from his computer.

"That a certain National Security Adviser and a certain White House Chief of Staff are an item." Seth said sitting on the chair opposite Aaron's desk and raising an eyebrow.

Aaron looked over at Seth before saying; "No comment" then looking back at his computer. He and Emily had been together for about a month, and it amazed both of them that they had managed to keep quiet about it for this long.

"Oh come on! You really think I'm going to believe that? I'm your best friend, I know you better than that..."

"Sorry, who said you were my best friend?" Aaron teased.

Seth raised his hand and pointed at Aaron; "Don't play the dumb card on that one either Shore. My feelings are in no position to be hurt."

"Where did you hear that we were together anyway?" Aaron asked, reverting back to their previous conversation.

"Rumour mill has been spinning." Seth said with a shrug.

"Seth, surely as press secretary you know better than to listen to rumours." Aaron said raising his eyebrows.

"Normally, yeah, but you and Emily have both been in much better moods, and it coincidentally coincided with your return to the White House. So this rumour... pretty believeable." Seth responded.

"It's all speculation."

"Is that a denial?" Seth asked. "You know, if there's rumours going on in _here_ , there's probably rumours going on out _there._ Someone's going to ask me about it eventually"

"Feel free to tell them no Seth, it's none of their business anyway."

"True... but I think the president might like to know if two of his senior advisers are shacking up together."

Aaron scrunched up his face; "why do you say things like that, you always make it weird..." Aaron commented as Seth held up his hands to begin to defend himself.

"It's just a turn of phrase Mr Serious. Does Emily realise how serious you are? Cause I'm not convinced if she did she would really be into that..." Seth teased.

"Get out Seth" Aaron said.

"Ok, ok, I'll categorically deny it to everyone who asks and I hope it's not true cause isn't that just going to make us look like a big bunch of liars when someone snaps a picture of you two looking cosier than senior advisors to the president should..." Seth said as he walked towards the door.

Aaron sighed and ran his hands over his face; "Seth..." he called.

Seth turned back round with a smug smirk on his face, knowing exactly what Aaron was about to confess to.

"Just... let us tell the president first before you let news spread..." Aaron said, not wanting to look Seth in the eye, knowing too well he would have a smug grin on his face.

Seth merely nodded his head, figuring he could tease his friends later when Aaron had cooled down a little bit. "You got it..." he replied before leaving the room with a smile on his face. _Finally._

* * *

Later that day, Aaron sat back in his office chair with a sigh. When he and Emily worked things out, he never really thought of the repercussions this might have for Kirkman's administration. He loved her, and there was no way he was going to let his job get in the way of that. He did wonder, however, what their next move should be, before this story found it's way to the press, and when it did, how they would respond to it.

"Hey" he heard at the door as Emily walked in. "You ok? I've barely seen you today." she asked as she sat on the edge of his desk.

"It's just been a paper work, responding to e-mails kind of day." Aaron replied. "How has your day been?"

"It's been ok, but... people have been looking at me funny, as if they know something I don't know and as chief of staff that doesn't sit too well with me." Emily said as she folded her arms.

"Yeah it's probably about the rumour"

"What rumour?" Emily asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"That we're together." He responded simply.

Emily nodded slowly; "Not much of a rumour cause it's true..."

"I know, we just haven't told anyone so it's still officially a rumour." Aaron replied.

"Is that why you're in a bad mood? Cause of our secret relationship not being so secret anymore?"

"I'm not in a bad mood." Aaron bit back as Emily sceptically raised her eyebrows. "It's just... I don't want our jobs to ruin what we have. I'm worried about what people are going to say and how it might make you feel about the whole thing... I know how much this job means to you."

"Aaron..." Emily said, grabbing his hand and resting it on her lap; "When you love someone you don't just stop because of what a few irrelevant people think or say. Even if people think we're crazy, you don't just stop, especially then! Nothing is going to change how I feel about you. Let the public think what they want. We're adults, we can keep us and our jobs separate. I don't doubt us and neither should you." Emily reassured him.

Aaron lifted her hand and kissed it. He loved how head strong and certain she was in them. He knew that there was no one else for him than her.

"We do have to tell Kirkman though" Emily said as Aaron nodded.

"Yeah... I don't know what will be worse, telling Kirkman or your dad." Aaron said running his hands down his face for what felt like the hundreth time that day.

Emily giggled; "you'll be fine, I promise" she said as she leant down and kissed him lightly.

She hopped off the desk and walked towards the door.

"Hey, Em?" Aaron called as she turned and leant on the doorframe.

"I love you" he said.

Emily smiled; "I know"

* * *

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	5. Good to Know

**Thanks for the reviews everyone, special thanks for some of the ideas that were given, watch this space;)**

 **This drabble crosses over with my story _'The Minor Leaguer'_ so it might be helpful if you give it a read (in particular, chapter 2).**

 **If you don't fancy doing that, all you really need to know is that Aaron and Emily knew each other in high school and college, hopefully the rest is self explanatory, but if you want more information, check the story out! It was one of my favourites to write.**

* * *

 **Good to Know**

* * *

Emily was working through some papers at her desk when her phone rang. She looked down at the caller i.d, before taking a big breath and answering.

"Hi mom" she said.

"Emily, it's your mother" Karen Rhodes said down the phone.

"I know, that's why I said hi mom" Emily replied, massaging her left temple, feeling a head ache come on already.

"There's no need for an attitude Emily... anyway, I was just ringing to check that you and Aaron were still coming down to us for the weekend?" Karen asked.

"Yeah, granted that there are no crisises at work, we'll be there" Emily confirmed.

"You know, I just knew that you and Aaron were meant to be, even when you broke up for quite a number of years, I just knew you would find your way back to each other." Karen launched in, Emily knowing she had a proud look on her face.

When they were in college, Emily brought Aaron to her brother's wedding in a bid to get her parents off her back about not having someone. Her family absolutely adored him, but the charade had to end and Emily told them a few weeks later that it wasn't going to work out. Her mother never got over it and Emily didn't have the heart to tell her the truth. Luckily for her, she and Aaron found their way officially to each other, and Karen liked to tell each everyone she knew they were destined to be together.

"You knew him for three days mom, surely that's not enough time to know whether someone is right for me." Emily countered.

"Call it a mother's intuition Emily, but I knew! I was thinking you could invite Aaron's parents and any brothers or sisters he may have. I would love to know the future in laws!"

"We're not engaged mom..." Emily reminded her.

"Just humour me Emily. So, what do you think?"

Emily sat back in her chair for a moment. The only member of Aaron's family that she had actually met was his cousin Nadia. She felt ashamed in that moment that they had been together almost four months and she hadn't met his mom or his brother. She didn't even know if Aaron was close with them.

"Uh... I don't know mom... I haven't actually met his mom and his dad left when he was young..."

"Oh that's terrible, what happened?" Karen said, placing her hand on her chest, feeling great sympathy for Aaron.

Emily sat further back in her chair when another moment of shame came over her- she didn't know what happened. She didn't even know how old he was.

"I don't know..." Emily mumbled down the phone. "Mom, I gotta go, I'll call you later" Emily said as she hung of the phone in the middle of Karen's protests. She quickly got out of her chair and made her way round to Aaron's office.

* * *

"How old were you when your dad left?" Emily asked as she lent on the door frame of Aaron's office.

Aaron looked up from his paperwork and replied; "Uh... 7 I think. Why?"

"I was just thinking about that time you pretended to be my boyfriend when we were in college to get my parents off my back. You told me that your dad left you and I realised that I didn't really know anything about it and... shouldn't people who love each other know about that kind of stuff?"

Aaron leant back in his chair and nodded; "Yeah... I guess it never really came up. I don't really think about it, I was pretty young."

"I get it if you don't want to talk about it I just... I want to know everything about you. The good stuff, the bad... even the stuff that you think doesn't matter, matters to me." Emily told him. "I'm sorry I never thought to ask before."

"Emily, it's fine, really. It was a long time ago. I don't really know what happened if I'm entirely honest. My mom never spoke about it, AJ and I were too young to fully understand what happened... all I remember was them fighting a lot and dad's indifference to us. I guess he just decided that this wasn't the life that he wanted." Aaron told her with a straight lipped smile, letting her know that it was ok to talk to him about it, to ask him questions.

"I'm sorry" she said quietly.

"Honestly... I'm not. As messed up as it sounds, him leaving meant I had a real drive to make sure I got all that I wanted out of life." Aaron confessed.

"And have you got it?" Emily asked.

Aaron smiled at the woman standing in his doorway. From the moment they first kissed after the MacLeish confirmation, he knew that she had been what was missing in his life. She was the key to his completion.

"Yeah. I do" he said, giving her a knowing look.

Emily nodded her head and blushed. "I would love to go to Texas sometime. Find out where you grew up, meet your mom, AJ..." she said.

"I never thought I would ever say this but... I would love to take you there." Aaron said sincerely. "Though I'm sure AJ would have some not so nice things to say about his baby bro" Aaron said with a laugh.

"If you got to hear what my brothers had to say about me in college, then I sure as hell get to hear what AJ has to say about you" Emily repiled with a smirk.

"Fair enough I guess..."

"On a side note..." Emily said fiddling with her thumbs; "What's your favourite movie?"

Aaron raised his eyebrows; "my favourite movie?"

"Like I said, the stuff you don't think is important is important to me" she said with a shrug and a delicate smile.

Aaron chuckled; "Goodfellas. I'm a huge Scorsese fan."

"Goodfellas... good to know."

* * *

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	6. You're Not Bullet Proof

**So this chapter is a different take on the shooting at the swearing in of MacLeish as VP.**

 **What if Aaron had done more than pull Emily out of the way? What if Lozano fired a second shot?**

 **Set 1x11**

 **Enjoy**

* * *

 **You're Not Bullet Proof**

* * *

The crowds were roaring. Peter MacLeish, the hero that arose from the ashes of the attack on the capitol had just been sworn in as vice president of the United States. It was what was supposed to be a day of hope for the American people, another step towards rebuilding their government, but before anyone knew it, they day turned chaotic.

All Emily heard was a shot. A bang. Then there was a frenzy. She heard people screaming, she saw Kirkman grab Alex, she heard someone shout her name.

" _Emily!"_

It was like everything was moving in slow motion. She saw Aaron move infront of her. She saw him turn to look at her with a look of fear that she had never seen in him before. She'd known him since he was 18 years old, his face had never been so pale.

She heard a second bang. She saw Aaron's shoulder swing forward. She saw him fall to his knees. She screamed for him, but she was dragged away. She continued to scream for him, but she could not get out of the grasp of the secret service agent. She managed to look over his shoulder and saw Kirkman on the ground, and Aaron lying beside him.

She continued to scream for him, not even noticing the tears that were pouring down her face. Once she was inside, the agent let her go and she was left alone in a swarm of people. She looked all around her and eventually Seth came over to her.

"Emily..." he said as he pulled her in for a hug, seeing the distressed state she was in.

 _This has got to be a dream._ She thought as she pulled out of Seth's arms. She noticed he was looking at her coat and as she looked down, she saw that blood splatter.

 _Tom's blood. Aaron's blood. How knew who's blood? All she knew was that it was the blood of someone she cared about._

"I- I-" Emily tried to speak but the words couldn't form in her mouth. Did Aaron Shore really just jump infront of her to protect her? Did he really just take a bullet for her?

"Come on. Let's get you out of here..." Seth said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and led her out of the Capitol.

* * *

Emily opened her eyes and looked around her. She wasn't in the Capitol, she wasn't in a car, she wasn't in the White House. She looked down and saw she was curled up in a seat, with her jacket covering her like a blanket. She then took note of the scent and noticed the nurses and doctors and realised she was in the hospital. Everything came flooding back to her in that moment.

She quickly sat up right and let her coat fall onto her lap.

"Hey..." Seth said quietly as he sat down beside her.

"How long have I been out?" Emily asked.

"Only about 45 minutes. As soon as you sat down in the car you conked out, I didn't want to wake you, so one of the agents carried you in here..." Seth said with an awkward smile.

"Right... I can't believe I passed out..." Emily said running a hand through her hair.

"It's probably just the shock of it all." Seth said, placing a hand on the top of her back in comfort.

"Where's Tom?"

"They're taking him in for surgery, looks like the bullet went in and out, didn't hit anything major." Seth said with a sure nod.

"That's good." Emily said. She knew what she had to ask next, even if she didn't want to. She didn't want to know that something serious could have happened to him, all while he was protecting her.

"Seth..." Emily began, but Seth knew what she wanted to ask, and saw that she was choking up, so he jumped in before she could get the words out.

" _He's ok."_

Emily let out a breath and let a few tears roll down her cheeks as she hugged her arms close to her body.

"The bullet hit his shoulder, they're taking it out now and stitching him up, he didn't need surgery or anything." Seth told her.

Emily nodded her head. "Seth... he jumped in front of me. He was willing to take a bullet for me... he's an idiot." Emily said, all of a sudden feeling anger towards Aaron.

Seth nodded; "Yeah he is... _he's an idiot who's crazy about you._ Love in Washington is rare Emily, and the kind of love that causes someone to take a bullet for someone else? Well... that's the kind of love that never dies."

Emily looked at Seth dumbfounded. There was no way Aaron Shore was in love with her. Sure, they'd kissed, _once_ , but it was just a kiss! You'd think if they were going to fall in love, it would happen in the 14 odd years that they'd known each other, not _now_.

Or maybe... maybe it had happened. Maybe it had happened, without them even realising it.

"He's in room 101" Seth said as he pointed down the hall.

Emily nodded, her face still firey with the anger of Aaron being so reckless. She stood from her chair and stormed down the corridor.

She flung open the examination door and saw Aaron sitting on the edge of the exam bed, shirtless, with a nurse standing beside him wrapping his arm in a bandage.

Emily was at a loss for words. She was angry but she was so thankful that he was ok too. She didn't know what to do, so she stared at him, her face unreadable.

Aaron decided that he would be the one to break the silence as the nurse left the room.

"Em-" He began, but Emily strided towards him and punched him in his good arm.

"OW!" he shouted. "What was that for?!"

"You jumped infront of a freakin bullet Aaron, what do you think that was for?!" she screamed, punching him again.

"OW! Stop punching me!" he said. "Need I remind you, I just got shot!"

"Oh trust me, I won't be forgetting this any time soon! How could you be so stupid?!" she shouted.

"I was protecting you!" he shouted back.

"What good would you have been to me dead?! I- I thought you were dead." Emily said as she tears pooled in her eyes once more.

"Emily-" He said quietly, reaching out for her, but she instinctively stepped back.

"No..." she said as she looked at her feet. "I- I can't lose you Aaron. _I can't._ Please... don't scare me like that again. Just let _me_ take the freaking bullet next time..."

Aaron stood and quickly walked towards her. He cupped her face and rested his forehead against hers, wiping the tears that fell down her cheeks with his thumb.

"I won't scare you like that again... but don't you dare even think about jumping in front of a bullet for me in return." Aaron said with a soft smile as Emily chuckled lightly.

Here she was, standing in an intensely intimate moment with Aaron Shore. He was a suspected traitor of the American government, yet she knew in her heart of hearts it couldn't be true. She was drawn to him like a moth drawn to a flame and she just couldn't shake him despite her previous attempts.

"I gotta go..." Emily whispered, knowing she should check on Tom while Aaron was out. "Don't forget you're not bullet proof while I'm gone" she said as she kissed his cheek and walked out the door, not sure what would come her way next.

* * *

 **Don't forget to review...**


	7. Dirty Little Secret

**This chapter has another crossover with The Minor Leaguer, so if you haven't read it, check it out!**

 **If you don't want to do that... all you need to know is that Emily's best friends from school are called Vivienne and Lenny and Aaron's best friends from school are called Warner and George and Vivienne and Warner are married, with a son called James.**

 **Hope the rest makes sense!**

 **Apologies if the sequence of stuff gets confusing. I kind of just write these as they come to me, so they're not all going to be in a chronological order. If you have any questions about it, just ask!**

 **Enjoy:)**

* * *

 **Dirty Little Secret**

* * *

"You need to go" Emily said as she began to look around her bedroom floor for Aaron's clothes. As she found them, she picked them up and threw them at him, while he continued to lounge on the bed.

"Where is my-" she said as she looked up and saw Aaron with her bra dangling from his finger.

"This what you're looking for?" he asked with a smirk.

Emily raised an eyebrow and walked towards him, taking the bra from him. She let the sheet she had wrapped around her body drop as she slipped her bra and underwear on.

Emily and Aaron had been dating for a little under a month now, and things were still very new. They had managed to keep it from their friends and family, but they knew it was only a matter of time before people found out. They wanted to keep it a secret for as long as possible, because they just wanted it to be theirs. They wanted to enjoy it before the media was reporting on it, and everyone in the White House threw in their two cents and gossiped.

"Why aren't you moving?" Emily said as she stood at the end of the bed with her hands on her hips.

"It's Sunday, why are _you_ moving? Come back to bed..." he said as he patted the space beside him.

"I knew I shouldn't have let you stay over here last night... Vivienne and Lenny are coming over, we're going for breakfast!" Emily said as she rummaged through her wardrobe for something to wear.

"Oh I get it, you want to keep our dirty little secret a little longer..." Aaron said as he got out of bed and walked up behind her. He moved her hair round to one shoulder, lowering her bra strap and began kissing down her jaw, neck and shoulder.

"I just want this to be ours for the time being. You know our friends will have plenty to say on the matter." Emily said as she tilted her neck further to the side, allowing Aaron all the access that he wanted.

"Oh I know, but right now... I don't really think you want me to leave." Aaron said as he smirked against her skin.

"Aa-Aaron stop..." Emily said unconvincingly and she closed her eyes and allowed herself to give into him.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang and Emily turned and pushed Aaron back onto the bed.

"Crap! Get dressed" she said as she grabbed her jeans and a top and threw them on, quickly leaving the bedroom.

"We'll continue this later!" Aaron shouted as Emily turned and glared at him.

They were both soon in the hallway, Emily fixing Aaron's shirt, wondering how she was going to explain her way out of this one.

She took a deep breath, and flung open the door to reveal Vivienne and Lenny.

"He- Aaron. Hi." Lenny said, looking between the pair with confusion. "Emily... Aaron's in your house." she said.

"I know that Lenny" Emily said with a chuckle.

"Yeah she knows" Aaron said awkwardly.

"What are you doing here? Last time I checked you were bitter work rivals. I figured the last thing you'd want to be doing is spending time together on a Sunday morning..." Vivienne said, looking as confused as Lenny.

"Oh, well I... needed some help... moving a cabinet!" Emily said, as the idea finally came to her. "Yeah I needed help moving a cabinet so I asked Aaron."

"Over Warner or George?" Lenny asked.

"Well he was there when I was talking about the cabinet at work..." Emily began, looking to Aaron for help.

"and I offered! No big deal, didn't take long, figured now was the best time to do it."

"Right..." Lenny and Vivienne said at the same time, neither of them really buying their excuse.

"Right... well, now that that's done..." Aaron began. "I should get going."

"I've left Warner in charge of James so feel free to go and make sure he doesn't do something stupid" Vivienne said with a light laugh.

"That's not a bad idea... I'll see you guys." Aaron said as he left the house.

Emily quickly turned and walked back into her house with Lenny and Vivienne hot on her tail.

"Ok, so what's the real story?" Lenny asked as she closed the door and followed her friends through open planned living space to the bedroom.

"What real story? I needed a cabinet moved..." Emily said as she sat down at the island in her kitchen.

"Yeah totally not buying it. I didn't even realise you and Aaron were speaking after the drama that started at my wedding, let alone moving cabinets" Vivienne said. Aaron and Emily could barely stand to be in the same room as each other, let alone willingly help each other out.

"We work together Vivienne, we have to speak to each other..."

"Don't be a smart ass, there's something going on here." Vivienne said narrowing her eyes.

"You're reading too much into it Viv, I swear." Emily said holding up her hands.

 _"Emily Louise Rhodes."_ Lenny said from the other side of the room.

"What?" Emily asked with a gulp.

"What... are _these_?" Lenny said, holding up a pair of black, lacy underwear.

"Those... are... my underwear..." Emily said awkwardly.

"What are they doing in the hallway?" Lenny asked, raising her eyebrow.

Emily knew too well why they were in the hallway. She and Aaron didn't quite make it all the way to the bedroom last night...

"I must have dropped them with my laundry" Emily said with a shrug, trying to play it cool.

"That would be totally believable if there wasn't a pair of _boxers_ lying beside them." Lenny said, holding them up, as Vivienne gasped.

"You and Aaron had sex! Oh my god. Oh my god!" Vivienne said, covering her mouth in shock.

"Oh my god" Emily said covering her face, knowing the secrecy was coming to an end.

"I can't believe this!" Vivienne exclaimed. "Only taken you 14 frickin years..."

"I'm sure the sex was off the charts good, 14 years is a long time with a lot of tension to let out..." Lenny began. "Am I right?"

"Lenny!" Emily exclaimed.

"Ok, ok, sorry... in your own time." Lenny said, causing Emily to roll her eyes.

"Is this just a one night thing that's going to make your lives even more awkward?" Vivienne said scrunching up her face.

Emily sighed. She knew she couldn't hide the truth any longer. "It wasn't just a one night thing... more like a month thing... we're sorta, kinda... together." Emily confessed and she smiled awkwardly at her best friends.

Lenny and Vivienne's mouths fell open. _"Oh... my... GOD!"_

"Yeah that's a fair response..." Emily said, trying to think desperately how she could make this situation less awkward for her. "You're the first ones to know and we're sorry we didn't tell you right away we just... we wanted to keep it personal for a little while."

"This... is... amazing!" Lenny said as she quickly hugged her friend. "I've been waiting for this since we were 16 years old! And... was I right? Is the sex off the charts?"

"Lenny!" Emily exclaimed again.

"Right, another time. Honestly, I'm just impressed that you managed to keep this your dirty little secret." Lenny said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Viv... you ok?" Emily asked.

"Yeah I'm ok... are you ok?" Vivienne asked sincerely.

"I'm... really ok." Emily said as she felt her cheeks blush. "A little annoyed with myself that I let the last 14 years go by without figuring us out but... I'm really happy guys... I'm crazy about him."

Vivienne and Lenny smiled widely at their friend. "We know, honey." Vivienne said with a little laugh; "and we know he's just as crazy about you... we're glad you've finally worked it out."

Emily suddenly found herself giggling, and Lenny and Vivienne were quick to join in.

"Come here" Emily said as she pulled her best friends in for a hug. Relishing this moment of joy and love, with the girls who had been by her side since she was 16 years old.

* * *

 **Don't forget to review:)**


	8. 31

**31**

* * *

Emily woke up and smiled when she realised what day it was. It was Sunday, and it was her birthday. Kirkman had insisted that his senior advisers take the day off, and it coincidentally coincided with Emily's birthday.

She had never been one to celebrate her birthday, except when she was a child, but Aaron insisted that because of that fact, they would be making a special effort this year.

She stretched out her arms and frowned when she realised the left side of the bed was empty. Had Aaron really left her alone in his bed on her birthday?

She sat up and began making her way out of bed when Aaron poked his head through the door; "Do not get out of that bed Rhodes." he said seriously.

Emily froze where she was; " _I_ wouldn't be getting out of bed if _you_ didn't get out of bed. What are you doing?" she asked.

Aaron pushed the door open completely to reveal himself holding a tray filled with all of Emily's favourite foods.

"You need to start off your birthday right... breakfast in bed" he said with a smile.

Emily smiled brightly back as she got herself comfy in bed again. Aaron walked over to her and sat beside her, setting the tray on her lap.

"Happy birthday" he said as he kissed her.

Emily giggled lightly; "Thank you... what do we have here?"

"All your favourites, blueberry pancakes, eggs, bacon..." he said rhyming off what he'd whipped up.

"This is amazing... I hope you're not planning on spoiling me too much today, I am only 31, it's not exactly a milestone age." she said as she began to cut her pancakes.

"You will be spoilt enough to know just how much I love you" he said, stealing another kiss.

"Well then I'm excited" she replied. "Do I get to know what's on the agenda or is it a 'see as you go' sort of day?"

"You get to know right now what sort of day it will be" he said as he reached into the pocket of his pyjama shorts, lifted out a key and holding it up.

"A key... you got me a key?" Emily said furrowing her eyebrows.

"Not just any key... a key to my house." he said as Emily began to catch on to what was going on. "Em, we spend pretty much every night together and I think it's about time we make you taking over my wardrobe an official deal. So Emily Rhodes... will you move in with me?"

Emily smiled brightly, lifting the tray off her lap before launching into Aaron's arms; "yes! Of course I will move in with you" she said as she held him close. "I love you"

"God I love you too" Aaron said as they pulled away from each other. "Kirkman has given us the next couple of days off to get moved."

"You really think he can run the white house without us?" Emily asked, growing concerned.

"For three days? Yeah, I do... if there's an emergency, he'll call." Aaron assured her.

"Ok... we're actually going to do this..." Emily said, the smile growing on her face. "You're going to hate me by the end of these three days."

"I could never hate you"

"Oh you will. You'll wish you never asked when I'm done with this house" Emily told him.

Aaron furrowed his eyebrows; "What's wrong with the house?"

"Oh nothing... nothing terrible anyway. It's just a classic bachelor pad, nothing some of my stuff can't fix." Emily said as she lifted her tray back onto her lap.

"But we're going to decided together what stays and what goes... right?" Aaron asked, growing more and more concerned over what Emily was going to do to his house.

Emily nodded; "Sure, if that's what you want" she replied.

"Yeah... it is what I want..."

"Ok, good" Emily said with a chuckle; "We'll get started when I finish my pancakes." she said as she continued to eat them happily.

 _This was going to be a long few days._

* * *

Emily stood in Aaron's living room looking at the chair in front of her. It was Aaron's chair. She hated it. It was old and worn down and it needed to go... but she knew Aaron would not see it gone without a fight.

"Aaron!" Emily called as Aaron walked into the living room carrying a box.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"This chair..." Emily began.

"No" he said immediately.

"Aaronnnn" Emily whined. "We're supposed to be making these collective decisions together!"

"You dumping my favourite chair is not a collective decision. I've had that chair since highschool, Warner, George and I all bought three matching chairs to have in our dorm room."

"I know, I remember them well, you would sit and watch endless sport, ignoring all of the people around you!" Emily frustratingly reminded him.

Aaron raised his eyebrows; "I need guy time Emily. I need football time."

"Is the chair really necessary for that?" Emily asked. "I have a super nice one at my apartment..."

"It's terribly uncomfortable." Aaron reminded her.

"But it looks good!" Emily countered. She began to walk closer towards him; "Wouldn't you rather cuddle up with me on the sofa than all on your own on that chair?" she asked, running her hand down his chest and towards his belt.

Aaron gulped; "You're not using sex to win this battle."

"All is fair in love and war..." Emily said with a seductive smirk.

Aaron leaned his head closer to her before taking her hand that was rested on his belt. He smirked; "... not going to happen" he said as he moved her hand and walked away.

"Damn it Aaron! Warner got rid of his chair when Vivienne asked him."

"Warner didn't get rid of a damn thing, it's in his office at work, that's the reason he stays late most nights, cause he's watching some game in his chair" Aaron told her. Emily raised her eyebrows and Aaron realised in that moment he probably shouldn't have told her that. "But, you're not going to tell Vivienne that... right?"

"I don't know... are you going to get rid of your chair?" Emily countered.

"Are you blackmailing me?"

"I guess it's coming down to what's more important to you... getting your balls busted by Warner or your chair" Emily said with a smirk.

"You're the devil"

"You can't say no to me on my birthday"

"You're 31, it's not even a milestone age!" Aaron said, using her words against her.

"Well you've changed your tune." she replied with a glare.

Aaron sighed. Maybe Emily was right about him hating her by the end of this.

He eventually gave in and moved the chair out of the living room. Emily even decided to turn a blind eye when she spotted it in the corner of his office a few weeks later.

Despite the stress and the arguments that resulted in moving in together, Emily and Aaron loved nothing more than arriving home to _their_ house together. They were able to decorate it with meaningful things and snapshots to them. It was the first time in a long time that they both felt like they had a home rather than just a house, mainly because they were together. It was the right next step, and they were excited for what was to come.

* * *

 **Next chapter- Time to meet Aaron's brother, the arrogant asshole that is AJ Shore...**


	9. A Family Affair

**So this chapter is a little bit longer than usual. I really enjoyed writing it, AJ is kinda the worst so it was fun to play that out... hope you enjoy.**

* * *

 **A Family Affair**

* * *

"So... you know they way you love me?" Aaron said as he stood in the doorway of Emily's office.

Emily eyed him curiously over the top of her computer; "I will neither confirm nor deny that question until you tell me what you've done..." she asked cautiously.

"I haven't done anything... except say yes to my brother coming over for dinner tonight." Aaron said quickly. He was tempted to turn around and run in that moment, but he figured that would just make things worse for himself.

"Tonight? Aaron!" Emily moaned as she leant back in her chair.

"I know, I know it sucks... AJ sucks... but I couldn't say no, I haven't seen him since Kirkman was sworn in, that's over a year. He's only in town for one night, you don't even have to see him more than once." Aaron said as he walked into the room and sat on the edge of her desk.

"Aaron, I really want to meet your brother, I do, but I just would have liked a little bit of warning. The way you talk about him, it could be an interesting and long night..." Emily said with a sigh.

"We'll kick him out if he gets too much" Aaron suggested. "Why don't you invite Lenny or something, you know she loves an awkward situation, she thrives on making people uncomfortable. Her way of doing it also, somehow, makes evenings more bareable." Aaron suggested.

"Ok... I'll call her now..." Emily said as she lifted her phone.

"Thank you" he said as he kissed her head and left the room.

Emily quickly scrolled through her contacts and dialled Lenny's number.

"Hey Em, what's up?" Lenny asked down the line.

"Hey Lenny, I have a favour to ask..." Emily said cautiously.

"Spill"

"I need you to come to dinner tonight with Aaron's brother."

Lenny sighed; "Emily... if this is some weak ass attempt at setting me up with Aaron's brother, you can give it up right now."

"Oh God no, I've never met AJ Shore but I already know that I would never want to inflict him upon anyone let alone my best friend."

"Why do you want me there then?"

"To diffuse any awkward tension." Emily replied.

"I do love a bit of awkward tension to play around with... What does AJ do anyway?"

"He's an oil tycoon back in Texas. He came a long way from the little village they grew up in..." Emily said, knowing AJ Shore was very successful in the oil industry.

"Oh, maybe I am interested after all..." Lenny said with a giggle.

Emily sighed; "Eleanor Kennedy, you are no gold digger."

"No, but I would be more than up for digging for oil..." she teased.

"Dear God..."

"Ok, ok, I'm in. You know me, I love a tense situation. See you tonight!" Lenny said happily as she hung up the phone, leaving Emily continually worrying about the night.

* * *

"Seth, hold up!" Emily said as she ran after him in the west wing.

"Hey, what fire do you need me to put out now?" He said with a smirk as he continued to walk.

"No fire... yet... I need your help with something non White House related." she said as they stopped to face each other.

Seth furrowed his eyebrows; "What's up?"

"Aaron's brother's AJ is coming to town today. He has some business meeting this afternoon and then he's coming round for dinner tonight but... I've never met the guy and Aaron says he's a little difficult so I need backup." Emily said with a pleading smile.

"You want me to come over for dinner to deal with Aaron's difficult brother? Pretty sure that goes beyond my job description..." Seth replied.

"Yes but it doesn't go beyond your friend description. Please, I am actually begging right now and you know I don't beg, I just expect." Emily said as Seth chuckled, Emily never waited around to hear the word 'no' as an answer to anything she asked. "I've already asked Lenny and she's super keen, you know she is a pro at diffusing awkward situations... and creating them... but that's besides the point" Emily said closing her eyes and shaking her head; "The more the merrier. Are you in?"

Seth sighed before looking at Emily's pleading face. He hated saying no to his friends. "... fine, I'm in. What are we eating?"

"I don't know, I haven't thought that far ahead..." Emily said, her eyes cowering in panic. "Oh my god... I can't even cook! I'm so bad at it. Why am I even having this dinner party?"

"You know what, you're stressed enough as it is and I really don't feel like getting food poisioning tonight, so why don't I cook? My grandma left me a load of her recipes which are really good..." Seth said with a smile, trying to calm his friend down.

"You are the best!" Emily said as her phone started to buzz. "Aaron and I are going to leave a little earlier tonight so we'll grab you on the way out. We owe you!" she said as she rushed down the corridor.

* * *

Later that night, Emily was rushing around her and Aaron's house, fixing everything up, making sure nothing was out of place, while Seth cooked up a storm in the kitchen, Aaron got changed and Lenny lounged by the fire drinking a glass of wine.

"This is good wine Em..." Lenny said lifting the bottle and looking at the label. "Oh, it's the fancy stuff, that explains why..."

Emily quickly walked over to Lenny and swiped the bottle; "You are not starting this evening off drunk."

Lenny pouted her lips before standing up; "That's actually fair enough. When's the other Shore getting here anyway?"

"He was supposed to be here 10 minutes ago but AJ Shore works on his own time..." Emily said as she surveyed the living room with her hands on her hips. "Honestly, I think I need to redecorate entirely."

"Dude, you redecorated when you moved in... four weeks ago..." Lenny reminded her.

"Right... Aaron!" Emily shouted as Aaron came down the stairs.

"You bellowed?" he teased.

Emily narrowed her eyes; "Now is not a time for teasing." she warned.

"I'm sorry... you really don't need to worry about tonight, it will be over before you know it... and you're the one who wanted to meet him anyway." Aaron reminded her.

"I know, I know... where is he anyway?" Emily asked as she looked at her watch.

As if by magic, the doorbell rang and everyone froze in their spot.

"Maybe if we stand really still he'll go away..." Emily suggested.

Aaron chuckled and shook his head as he walked towards the door. Emily straightened out her outfit as Lenny eyed her quizically.

"Why are you so desperate to impress this guy?" Lenny asked.

"My family like Aaron, I want his to like me..." Emily said with a shrug.

"You're Emily Rhodes, it's categorically impossible to hate you" Lenny told her as Emily smiled softly. "Where is Seth? He needs to be here to greet AJ."

"For god's sake Emily, he's not royalty..." Lenny mumbled.

"Seth is here" Seth said as he walked into the room.

"Good, ok... we can do this..." Emily said as she stood tall, ready to greet her guest.

A few seconds later, Aaron walked into the living room with AJ, talking and laughing about something. Aaron and AJ looked eerily alike, it was immediately evident that good looks ran in the family, but there was something about AJ that just seemed... less sincere. His smile was more dazzling, his clothes more prestine, his stance more intimidating.

Emily gulped, as Aaron turned to the three other people to introduce his brother to them.

"Guys, this is my brother AJ, AJ this is my friends, Lenny and Seth and this is my girlfriend, Emily" Aaron introduced as AJ completely bypassed Seth and Lenny and turned straight to Emily, walking towards her.

"Emily Rhodes... White House Chief of Staff..." he said eyeing her up and down making everyone in the room uncomfortable. "Pleasure to meet you" he finally said, holding out his hand, to which Emily shook.

"Pleasure to meet you too, Aaron's told me a lot about you." Emily replied.

"Oh I doubt that. Aaron doesn't like to be upstaged in any way by his big brother" AJ half joked as Aaron tried this best not to roll his eyes.

Emily smirked; "I never said the things that he told me were good" she countered, to which AJ stared at her, taken back by her quick remark.

AJ eventually laughed; "I can see why the president would want someone as quick tounged as you running the government for him. What I don't know is why Aaron decided he was into you _after_ you took his job" he swiped.

"She didn't take my job AJ, it's a little more complicated than that..." Aaron said.

"Right... guess you just didn't have what it took to keep the job in the first place." AJ added.

"Uh... dinner should be ready if we want to take a seat?" Seth suggested, knowing Emily and Aaron were dying to leave this part of the conversation behind.

"Good idea Seth, it's just this way..." Emily said as she led everyone to the dining room.

A short while later, the five of them were eating their dinner. Unsurprising to Aaron, no one got an word in edge wise, as AJ would not stop talking about the oil business and how successful the whole thing was.

"So, AJ, how's Maya?" Aaron asked. Maya was AJ's girlfriend, they'd been on and off since high school, but last Aaron heard, they were going through a good phase.

"Oh we broke up." AJ said, as if it were no big deal. "So I don't know how she is."

"Oh I'm sorry man. What happened?" Aaron asked.

"I cheated... yeah it wasn't pretty. She smashed the windows in my car, told me she's wasted the past 16 years of her life and she should have known better considered I refused to propose... some people right?" AJ said, talking as if she was the crazy one.

"Yeah, some people..." Emily mumbled as she took a swig of wine.

"So yeah, I am very much single" AJ said, smiling over to Lenny.

"And I am very much out of your league" Lenny said as she raised her glass to him as they others almost choked on their food and drink.

AJ raised his eyebrows in disbelief that someone would actually say no to him. He then cleared his throat, looking for the next opportunity to make his brother look bad, in a bid to make himself look better.

"So, Seth,what's the media been saying about the White House Chief of Staff and the national security adviser being together?" AJ asked. "I distinctly remember reading an article entitled; 'The Scandalous Lives of the White House Elite.' It seemed to allude to the idea that sleeping your way to the top... really was a thing."

Aaron could see Emily's knuckles turning white as she gripped her knife and fork in anger.

Seth cleared his throat, ready to take AJ down a peg or too. "All interest was lost when they realised there was nothing of value in the story. Nobody really cares about the personal relationships in the White House when our government went through something at catastrophic as it did. There are more important things."

"I guess it just came as a shock to me when Aaron told us about his new girlfriend and who she was. He made a huge point of making sure we understood he was 'too good' for the oil business, something that was passed down from our father, and how he actually wanted to make a difference in people's lives. Yet there he was, risking it all for some girl." AJ said.

Emily slammed her fork down beside her; "Said _some girl_ is sitting right here and excuse Aaron for not wanting to associate himself with the business of a father who _abandoned_ him." she snapped.

"Em..." Aaron said quietly, not wanting her to get worked up over AJ's behaviour. They wouldn't have to deal with him after tonight, they just needed to get through it.

"No Aaron, I'm not going to sit here and listen to him talk like that." Emily said as she quickly turned back to AJ. "You come into our home and you spend the evening insulting us and to what end? To make yourself feel better about your lonely and pathetic life? Aaron worked hard. He worked hard to get into one of the most prestigious schools in the United States, he worked hard to get a job with the governor of New York and his job with the secretary of state and with Richmond and his job right now with Kirkman. Are you really that jealous that he was able to make something of his life that surpasses anything you've tried to do by drilling into some dirt? You should be supporting him, _he is your brother._ So before you think about insulting him or anyone at this table one more time, why don't you think about the people that you have left in your life that are willing to have you sit at their table. Because after tonight, I'm not sure this is going to be one of them."

Everyone remained in an uncomfortable silence as Emily turned from AJ and continued to eat her dinner. Aaron looked in awe at his girlfriend, Seth and Lenny sat opposite them with their mouths wide open in shock and AJ sat stiffed face, and fuming.

"You know what... I think it's time I left." AJ said as he threw his napkin down on the table. "Seth, the dinner was delicious. Aaron... I think you should maybe learn to remember who your family are."

"You too brother." Aaron said as he rested his arm on the back of Emily's chair, making it clear he knew who is family was, and _she_ was sitting right beside him.

AJ sent one last glare before quickly leaving the house, not looking back.

* * *

That evening, Aaron stood in front of the bathroom mirror, and began getting ready for bed. Before he could brush his teeth, he felt Emily come up behind him and wrap her arms around his middle, resting her cheek against his bare back.

"I'm sorry that things ended like that Aaron... I didn't want to cause this divide between you and your brother." Emily said quietly and sadly, feeling that she had caused some serious damage between Aaron and AJ.

"The divide between me and AJ was there long before you entered my world Emily. AJ's an asshole. He always has been and yeah... it sucks. Of course I want my brother to be a good brother but... it doesn't always work out like that. AJ is not the sort of person I need in my life. Maybe one day he'll scrub up his act, but right now... it's ok that he's not going to be a part of it."

"He's your family Aaron, that means something" Emily said.

Aaron turned round and pulled Emily into his arms, allowing her head to rest on his chest. "To me family is not about blood. Family is Warner and Vivienne and James. It's George, Seth and Lenny... my family is _you_ Emily. It's because of you I know what family is and I love you so much for it."

Emily closed her eyes and let out a breath; "I love you too. What he said to you tonight Aaron... it wasn't true. You're making a difference, you are good at what you do... you have so much _worth_."

"I know, and as long as I have you... I won't ever forget it."


	10. Picky Eaters

**Just a silly little something because the blueberry muffin should have been for Aaron...**

 **Based on 2x03**

 **Enjoy:)**

* * *

 **Picky Eaters**

* * *

"Hey" Aaron said as he caught up with his girlfriend in the corridor as she frantically replied to an email on her phone.

"Hey" she responded, looking at him for a brief moment.

"I missed you this morning" he commented, as when he woke up, she had already left.

"Yeah sorry, I wanted to get a head start on some stuff, I didn't want to wake you" Emily told him as they dodged people in the corridor. The West Wing really was mad.

"That's ok..." Aaron said, as he stopped to go back in the other direction; "Oh hey, did you leave the chocolate chip muffin on my desk this morning?"

Emily finally looked up from her phone to smile properly at him; "Don't get too excited, I picked all the chocolate chips out" she said before turning and walking away.

Aaron smirked and shook his head as he walked back in the other direction.

 _Game on Rhodes._

* * *

Around lunch time, Emily made her way into her office and saw Aaron standing there with a box of her favourite chicken caesar salad from Betty's cafe down the road.

Emily gasped; "Is that Betty's chicken caesar salad for me?" she said walking towards him and taking the box from him.

"It is yeah"

"With extra chicken?" she said, looking up at him expectantly.

"Uh huh"

"Oh my god you have totally made my day..." she said as she opened the box, but when she saw the inside of it, she frowned.

"Oh, yeah," Aaron began as Emily looked up at him quizically. "I meant to say don't get too excited about it, cause I actually picked all the chicken, including the extra chicken, out and ate it first. But enjoy!" he said with a smirk as he left the room.

Emily turned and watched him leave, her mouth open in shock.

 _Game on Shore._

* * *

That evening, Emily walked into Aaron's office with a pizza box.

"Pizza time" she said happily as she set the box infront of him. "Pepperoni, your favourite."

Aaron smirked; "that's funny, cause... I bought you a pizza." he said as he nodded to the coffee table on the other side of the room, that had a pizza box sitting on it.

Emily eyed him quizically; "Ham and mushroom?"

"Would I get you anything else?" he replied with a teasing smile.

Emily walked over to the coffee table and got ready to lift the lid of the box, while Aaron did the same to his. When the lifted their lids, they groaned at what they saw.

"Emily!"

"Aaron!"

"You picked of all the pepperoni?!"

"You picked off all the ham and mushroom?!"

"You started it!" Aaron protested.

"I was hungry! You took all the chicken out of my salad, I was having a long, hard day and you made it ten times worse!" Emily responded.

"You're being petty..."

"So are you" she reminded him as she crossed her arms in frustration.

They both looked at each other for a brief moment, and then started laughing.

Emily shook her head; "With everything that has been going on today, how is it some food preferences that have caused us to bicker?"

"Sometimes in the midst of all the chaos, you've got to have a little bit of fun and laugh at the dumb things." Aaron told her.

"Yeah... you want to scrap the pizza and get chinese?" Emily asked.

"Absolutely" he said as he put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her forehead before leading her out the door.

* * *

 **Don't forget to leave any suggestions of what you want to see, I've already written some stuff from people's suggestions that will be coming soon...**


	11. Maybe One Day

**Taking it back to high school with this chapter... the first chapter of The Minor Leaguer will give you some more insight into this world. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Maybe One Day**

* * *

It was the beginning of May and school was beginning to wrap up for the children and teenagers in Washington DC. The end of the school year meant saying goodbyes, but there was one more event for the senior class to look forward to- prom.

Warner, George and Aaron had been toying with who to ask all year. They could have asked anyone, the girls at their school loved them, but they wanted to take people they knew they would have the most fun with, which was when it struck Warner that there were only three girls in the entire school that they could be their goofy selves with- Vivienne, Lenny and Emily.

Despite being in their sophomore year, the three senior boys loved the sarcastic, teasing relationship they had with the girls. They pushed each other's buttons, but they also laughed with each other more than with any other people.

While George and Lenny had banter like brother and sister, Vivienne and Warner's flirtatious banter was off the charts, and Emily and Aaron? Well... no one could quite place their relationship on the scale. They pushed each other's buttons like no one had ever pushed them, and while everyone saw sparks between them, they just saw ignorance.

So while George asked Lenny and Warner asked Vivienne to prom, Aaron was reluctant to ask Emily.

"Just do it man!" Warner and George would insist.

"No, she'll say no!"

"You don't know that"

"Why would I ask someone who can't stand me?"

 _"Because whether you want to admit it or not, you two have fun together."_

It was after that sentence that Aaron found himself standing in the courtyard, watching Emily read at a picnic bench, trying to pluck up the courage to ask her to prom. While Emily did not appear to have softened to him over the year, Aaron had softened towards her, yet every time he opened his mouth, he seemed to give her more reason to dislike him.

"Hey" he said as he sat opposite her with a smile on his face. _Now or never Aaron._

Emily peered over her book to see Aaron smiling awkwardly at her; "Hey..." she replied before looking back at the page.

"What are you reading?" he asked.

"You care what I'm reading?"

"Just making conversation..." he said quietly.

Emily put down her book and eyed him quizically; "You want to make conversation? Who are you and what have you done with Aaron Shore?"

"Hey, I can have a normal conversation with someone." he replied defensively.

Emily laughed; "I have no doubt that you could have a normal conversation with someone Aaron, I just don't think that someone is me."

"Well... I can... " he said as he sat up straighter. "I have to ask you a question"

"Ok... ask away..." Emily encouraged, not sure where he was going with this.

"Will you... go... to... prom... with... me...?" he asked slowly, not looking her in the eye.

"I'm sorry did you just say prom?"

"Yep... prom. You know the event with the dance and the dresses and the suits and the king and queen? Oh wait, you probably don't know what that is cause your busy reading schedule prevents you from having a social life." Aaron teased.

Emily rolled her eyes; "And there is it. Goodbye Aaron" she said as she lifted her stuff and got up.

Aaron sighed; _why did she have to make things so damn difficult?_ "Emily, wait" he called as he rushed after her.

"I have no doubt that you asking me to prom is some kind of joke, but when it comes to actually asking someone, let me recommend that you don't stumble over the words, you look the girl in the eye and you don't insult her afterwards." Emily said as she powered ahead.

"It wasn't a joke!" he insisted; "And I was just kidding I know you have a very active social life..." he said, not really beliving what he was saying, which Emily could say.

"Don't lie" she responded quickly.

"Emily" he said as he stopped her and turned her around. "I'm not kidding about prom." He said sincerely.

Emily eyed him quizically. Despite their issues, they knew each other pretty well, they could read each other, and in that moment, Emily saw the sincerity in his eyes.

"... Are you just asking me because George and Warner asked Vivienne and Lenny? Cause I assure you Aaron, I will be quite ok with not going. There are plenty of girls who flock to you, just pick one of them." Emily told him.

"No, I wanted to ask you, it has nothing to do with the others."

"Why?"

"Because I know we'll have fun. We push each other's buttons and we annoy the crap out of each other but we always have a good time together." Aaron insisted. "So please... don't make me beg." he said with a smirk.

Emily smirked and rolled her eyes. Maybe it would be a fun night.

"... fine. I'll go" she replied.

"Don't sound so reluctant, you'll damage a guy's ego..." Aaron said, mockingly placing a hand to his chest as she swatted his arm.

"I think your ego is safe" she responded as she turned to walk away. "Text me the details."

"I will..." he said as he smiled, watching her walk away.

* * *

The night of the prom soon came around and Emily and Aaron felt something they didn't expect to feel- nervous. They couldn't quite put their finger on why. Maybe it was the fact that they were both convinced the night would end with a fight between the two of them over something stupid. Or maybe, they were nervous that it wouldn't. It wasn't how things normally went for them.

Emily checked her reflection in the mirror one last time. She was wearing a light pink dress that rested off her shoulders and came out slightly from the waist down. She had her hair curled with one side pinne behind her ear, minimal jewellery and a simple pair of silver heels. She loved to dress up, she just never had the opportunity to do it, so nothing made her happier than getting ready with her best friends.

"Emily!" Vivienne called as she rushed into the room; "We got to go, everyone's downstairs."

"Ok, I'll be down in a second" Emily said as she lifted her earrings off the shelf and slipped them on.

She began to think about Aaron. About how he had asked her to come with him tonight. They were finally being presented with an opportunity to get along, to become proper friends, and it almost seemed too good to be true.

Her mind then drifted to how he would look in a suit... _Get your mind out of the gutter Rhodes. He's leaving in a month anyway._

Downstairs, everyone had begun to gather in the common room. Warner and George had already been greeted by Vivienne and Lenny and Aaron waited eagerly at the bottom of the stairs. Where was Emily? She wasn't planning on bailing was she?

"Hey Viv, where's-" Aaron began but Vivienne interrupted her.

"She's coming now, she was just finishing getting ready, don't panic." Vivienne assured him with a giggle. "She hasn't bailed on you... yet." she teased with a wink.

"How reassuring" Aaron said sarcastically.

"You're nervous" Lenny commented as she eyed Aaron suspiciously.

"I am not nervous" Aaron replied surely.

"He's nervous" George confirmed.

"George!"

"It's ok Aaron, but you're about to get even more nervous, because she looks incredible" Lenny told him with a smile.

Aaron smiled and looked at his feet; "I don't doubt that."

Lenny, Vivienne, Warner and George walked towards the door to get ready to go. Aaron looked down at his watch, then at the stairs. He did a double take when he saw the most beautiful girl walk down the stairs.

He couldn't take his eyes off her, and she instantly noticed, blushing obviously. She made her way to the last few steps, coming face to face with Aaron.

"Stop staring, it's creepy" she said teasingly.

"I can't help it... you're beautiful." Aaron said sincerely.

Emily blushed again before taking the last few steps down; "That's funny, I didn't know you were capable of giving compliments"

"That's funny, I _knew_ you were _incapable_ at taking compliments." he responded quick off the bat.

Emily snickered; "Well thank you... you clean up well too. Sure you want to take me to this thing?"

"I mean... you were the best out of a bad, bad bunch..." Aaron teased.

"Well that says a lot about the bunch then doesn't it." Emily responded.

Aaron chuckled; "I'm very sure. Miss Rhodes." He said as he held out his arm and she hooked hers through it, as they walked over to the others at the door.

* * *

The prom had been going off without a hitch. George managed to spike one of the punch bowls right under the teacher's noses' and Vivienne and Warner had been crowned prom king and queen. Vivienne had insisted her whole life that she was destined for royalty, so this was very fitting.

Emily stood at the edge of the dance floor, watching as a flock of cheerleaders attempted to chat Aaron up.

"So Aaron, you came here with Emily Rhodes tonight?" Melissa asked curiously.

"Yeah, she's a good friend, it's been fun" Aaron simply replied, wishing to be out of this conversation and back with his date, who he knew was watching.

"Fun? That is a word I never expected to hear in a sentence involving Emily Rhodes..." Andrea joked as Melissa and Joni laughed.

"It appears you don't really know her then"

"Or maybe you're the one who doesn't realise how boring she is" Joni countered. "But you know how the saying goes, it's not who you take to prom... it's who you take home that matters." she continued teasingly.

Aaron looked to his feet as the three girls continued to smirk at him.

"I suggest you make someone else the target of your affections tonight ladies." Aaron said simply, as he turned and walked over to Emily.

"They couldn't win you over?" Emily asked.

"I don't think anything they could say would win me over." Aaron told her as he handed her a glass of punch. "Non-spiked stuff..."

"Thanks. I would hate to find out what kind of drunk I am tonight" Emily joked as she took a sip of the punch.

"An uncontrollable one no doubt" Aaron said with a smirk.

"Yeah I can totally see that..." she said sarcastically as she bumped hips with him. She looked over to the dance floor and saw Vivienne and Warner happily swaying with their crowns on their head. "Look at those two... they're in their element."

"Yeah, well, Warner's always fancied himself a bit of a king." Aaron said with a laugh and a shrug.

"He and Vivienne are perfect together, I swear they're going to get married." Emily predicted.

"I never thought I'd see the day that someone tamed Warner but... I think you're right. Even if they don't see it now, one day they'll bump into each other and the rest will be history" Aaron further added to the prediction. "You want to dance?" Aaron asked after a moment of comfortable silence.

Emily raised her eyebrow; "You dance?"

"Only for you" He said with a charming smirk as he held out his hand.

Emily pondered it for a moment, before ultimately thinking; _why not?_

She took his hand and he led her out to the dance floor. It was a slow song and Emily wasn't quite sure how she would handle being so close to Aaron for a few moments. He spun her slowly under his arm before bring her in. Taking her right hand in his left, before snaking his other hand around her back. They were merely inches apart, falling into a comfortable sway that was electrifying, though it would be something they would never admit to, till years later.

"I'm impressed, you don't have two left feet." Emily said quitely.

"You have to have a little bit of rhythm to play football." Aaron justified, though Emily wasn't sure this was a legitimate reason for his skills on the dance floor.

"Whatever you say" she said with a raised eyebrow. "So... what's after high school? Going to work in the mail room in Washington?" she asked, knowing that he was willing to start that low and work his way to the top.

"I don't know, I think I might head to college first. I don't think Warner or George could cope without me." Aaron said with a shrug.

"Yeah they really wouldn't know what to do with themselves..."

"But after that, yeah I guess the mail room. You gotta be willing to start little" Aaron said.

"That's true." Emily repsonded.

"Do you think you'll be able to cope these last two years of school without me?" Aaron said with a smirk.

Emily rolled her eyes; "I think they'll be relatively peaceful. I might actually get to read the books I want to without you coming and asking me ridiculous questions like did I want to go to prom with you" she joked.

"Don't even pretend you aren't glad I asked you" Aaron said with a chuckle.

Emily looked down; "I won't... thank you for bringing me tonight. It's been really fun... this whole year has been fun... and frustrating... but fun and it's definitely owed in part to you." she said sincerely.

Aaron smiled brightly down at Emily as she tried to avoid eye contact with him; "Now who's the one giving unexpected compliments?"

Emily looked up at him and shook her head; "Just take the damn thing" she said.

Aaron chuckled "Well thank you for pushing my buttons... you always need someone in life who's going to challenge you to be the best person you can be." he replied.

Aaron took in her small and sincere smile. She was like an angel in that moment. He suddenly found himself dipping his head forward. Their noses brushed and they were just a breath apart, when Emily tilted her head away.

"We shouldn't..." she said quitely. _He was leaving, this was not the right time._

Aaron gulped; "Right..."

The song came to a close and Emily found herself pulling away from Aaron with a sad look on her face. They had finally found their moment of beauty, they finally saw the spark that everyone else saw, but it just wasn't their time.

"Maybe one day" Emily told him.

"Yeah. One day" Aaron said, omitting the maybe, knowing that this wasn't the last he would be seeing of Emily Rhodes.

* * *

 ***Sigh* It just wasn't their time...**

 **Don't forget to review...**


	12. Roots Before Branches

**Based on 2x04... Enjoy:)**

* * *

 **Roots Before Branches**

* * *

 _"You climbed to the top of the ladder Aaron, but maybe you've forgotten who helped you build it."_

* * *

After his fight with Nadia, Aaron felt like his body was drained from energy. This job saw him running on fumes and adrenaline and when that was knocked out of him, even for the briefest of moments, he felt so very down.

He eventually found the energy to leave his office and make his way round to the office of the one person he knew would make things better- Emily.

He stood in the doorway and watched as she worked from the sofa in her office, her feet up on the sofa, her shoes off and a bag of chips beside her. Aaron snickered, appreciating that even in the White House, Emily found moments to just be herself.

"Hey" he said quietly as she looked up and greeted him with a smile.

"Hey yourself" she replied as he pushed off the doorway and sat beside her, lifting her legs onto his lap. "You ok?" Emily asked, immediately sensing that he wasn't himself.

"I just had a fight with Nadia... I really screwed up." he confessed.

"The great Aaron Shore doesn't screw up" Emily said with a soft smile.

"I did this time... I thought I was doing something right by her, I thought I was fighting this noble cause but... I wasn't." he said, defeated. "Do you ever feel like you've just lost your way Em?" he asked. "You forget where you've come from?"

Emily thought about it for a second before answering; "Sometimes... it's easy to get swamped in this world of Washington. It's easy to forget that you had a life before it all. It's easy to forget your roots."

Aaron nodded; "I used to pride myself on being in touch with my heritage. It never even occured to me that I'd lost it until today. I've been away from Texas since I was 15 years old. Yet I never forgot where I came from. I never forgot the people who got me where I needed to be... until now."

Emily rested her hand on the back of Aaron's neck; "Your family are proud of you Aaron. You know they are. Nadia says so every time you see her. Maybe you haven't been home in a while... but you're not the only person in Washington who is married to their job. It's not too late to make things right Aaron. It's not too late to reconnect with where you came from. You've got to have roots before branches."

Aaron looked at Emily and the small smile that graced her face was enough to ease him, even for the briefest of moments.

"If I told you that the rest of my family weren't like AJ and my dad, would you believe me?" Aaron asked.

"Well considering you turned out ok, yeah I would believe you." she told him with a light laugh.

"... You want to meet them?"

* * *

A short while later, Aaron and Emily had made their way round to a house in downtown Washington. Aaron held Emily's hand tightly as he opened the front door, and walked into the busy house.

Emily immediately smiled when she saw kids running around and adults laughing. It felt like family.

"Aaron!" Nadia said as she walked over to him. "I'm glad you could make it."

"Me too" he said as he hugged Nadia. "I'm sorry about earlier."

"It's ok. You're here now." Nadia said reassuringly.

"Aaron!" an older lady said as she walked towards Aaron and Emily. "Nice of you to finally pop round..." she teased.

"I'm sorry Esmerelda..." Aaron said sincerely.

Esmeralda winked at him, before looking behind him and seeing Emily standing sheepishly. "And who is this beautiful woman you have brought with you?"

"This is my girlfriend Emily. Emily this is my aunt Esmeralda" Aaron introduced.

"It's so nice to meet you" Emily said with a smile.

"My, my Aaron... how did you manage to get someone so beautiful? I didn't realise you were that charming..." Esmeralda teased as Emily giggled.

"I can be charming when I want to be Esme" Aaron responded with a smirk.

"Well you have to be if you want to make it in politics. You work in the White House too don't you? I think I've seen you on TV..." Esmerelda asked.

"Yes, I'm the White House Chief of Staff" Emily confirmed.

Esmeralda smiled, clearly impressed. "Well, we practically have American royalty with us then. Alejandro, make a space for them to sit down." Esmeralda insisted as the men around them scramble to give them seats.

"Your mother was on the phone to me the other day, talking about some fight you and AJ had..." Esmeralda told them.

"Would you believe me if I said AJ had it coming?" Aaron asked.

"Oh definitely" Esmeralda confirmed. "AJ is too like his father, Amada can't seem to knock it out of him." Esmeralda said. "She's going to be so jealous that I saw her Aaron before she did" she teased, knowing how much her sister missed Aaron. But Amada Shore was stubborn, just like her sons, and she was always reluctant to admit that.

"I'll call her tomorrow, maybe see about heading back home for a little while" Aaron told her.

"Remembering your roots huh?" Esmerelda said with a knowing smile.

"Yeah. They're what got me where I am." Aaron said as she squeezed Emily's hand, who instantly squeezed back.

They were ushered to sit down as Esmeralda went to finish the dinner. Emily looped her arms around Aaron's and rested her chin on his shoulder.

"I know AJ is a sucky brother but... this side of your family is great. Thank you for bringing me here." she said quietly.

"Thank you for reminding me that it's not too late to make things right... thank you for being you." he said as he placed a small, sweet kiss on her forehead.

* * *

 **Don't forget to review...**


	13. Half Empty, Half Full

**Throwing it back to college for this one... set at the end of Emily's first year in college while Aaron has been in New York for an internship this semester.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Half Empty, Half Full**

* * *

Emily stormed into her dorm at Georgetown university, startling Vivienne and Lenny who were working at their desks. She immediately walked over to the wardrobe and started ransacking it, throwing dresses onto her bed.

Lenny and Vivienne looked at each other for a brief moment before walking towards her. This was totally out of character for Emily. It was almost the end of their first year of college, and normally by this stage, Emily would be knuckling down to finish her assignments, but she was nowhere to be seen this morning.

"Em... you ok?" Vivienne asked cautiously.

Emily quickly spun round causing her friends to jump back a little. "We're going out tonight."

"What?"

"We're going out tonight. To a club, a bar, anything! We are going out and we're going to get drunk and we're going to have fun." Emily said with certainty.

"Where are you and what have you done with Emily Rhodes?" Lenny asked quietly.

Vivienne pulled Emily away and sat her down on the bed. "Ok, where is this coming from?"

"Am I boring?" Emily asked with a sigh.

"Uh, no!" Lenny said quickly. "Do I need to remind you about the epic pranks you pulled off throughout high school?"

"Not to mention you could whip half the guys asses at tag football and basketball here." Vivienne added.

"Yeah well men don't own sports..." Emily mumbled under her breath.

"Just because you're smart doesn't mean you're boring Em" Lenny added. "What brought this on?"

"Matt dumped me this morning" Emily said as she looked at her feet.

"What?!" Lenny and Vivienne both exclaimed as they sat beside her.

Emily had met Matt at the start of their second semester and they instantly hit it off. Things had been going well for them. He'd even managed to essentially obliterate any remaining feelings she may have had for a certain curly haired Texan, though Emily would be quick to deny that those feelings existed in the first place.

"He said that I wasn't fun. I was too concerned with the future and being perfect all the time which is totally untrue! I can be fun!" Emily said. "And there is nothing wrong with thinking about your future and your career and being the best version of yourself. That doesn't make me boring!"

"Is that why you want to go out tonight? To prove to him that you're fun?" Lenny asked.

Emily scoffed; "I don't owe him anything. I want to go out tonight to forget that this day even happened, to just let loose. I want to get drunk. So drunk that I would have no problems with dancing on a table and singing karaoke at the front of a fully packed bar."

"Ok... if that's what you want... but we'll maybe have to regulate the drunk thing..."

* * *

 _"How can we be lovers if we can't be friends? How can we start over if the fighting never ends?"_

Vivienne and Lenny stood in shock at the bar as Emily stood on the stage, blasting out Michael Bolton karaoke to a highly entertained crowd. It didn't take long for Emily to escape from Lenny and Vivienne and take one drink too many. Before they knew it, she was up on stage blasting out some badly out of tune Michael Bolton ballads.

"How did we let this happen?" Vivienne asked.

"She is going to kill us when she remembers what she did..."

"At least she's entertaining everyone in the bar..." Vivienne added, trying to look for the positives.

"Anyone drunk enough would appreciate any Michael Bolton karaoke song" Lenny pointed out.

Emily finished up her song and stumbled over to her friends, giggling.

"Lennyyyyy! Viv! Get out there, I know you love a bit of Michael Bolton." Emily said.

"Oh we would just hate to steal the spotlight from you Em..." Lenny said with a smile.

"That is why you guys are the _bestest_ friends in the _whole_ entire _world_!" Emily said wrapping her arms around both of them. "You know, Michael Bolton, really got me thinking tonight... how can we be lovers... if we can't be friends?" Emily asked as Lenny and Vivienne furrowed their eyebrows. "I need to make a phone call." Emily announced as she lifted out her phone.

"You are not calling Matt." Vivienne said.

"Relax _mom_ , I'm done with that loser..." Emily said as she put the phone to her ear, leaving Lenny and Vivienne confused and concerned over who she was calling. Their eyes widened when she greeted the person on the other end of the line.

" _Aaron! Hey! It's Emily,_ but I suppose you already knew that cause you're a bit of a know it all... anyway, you're probably wondering why I'm calling. I just had a realisation... how could we ever be anything more than friends, if we can't even be friends in the first place?! All we did was bicker and you were so mean to me, but even after that I still found you _hot_ as _hell_. But, any time we became even remotely close to something, you left! So whatever you do, do not come to Salazar's Bar tonight, because I will just turn my back on you, just like you turned your back on me... _twice_! " she said with certainty as Lenny grabbed the phone and hung up before she said anything else she regretted.

"Hey! I wasn't finished!" Emily said trying to snatch her phone back. "Considering he didn't even pick up, he needs another angry voicemail about that..."

"Oh I think you were" Vivienne said as she put Emily's phone in her pocket. "I think it's time we called in a night..."

"No way! The night's just getting started!" Emily said as she danced her way back through the bar.

* * *

A short while later, Lenny and Vivienne had tried everything they could to get Emily home, but nothing worked. For being drunk, Emily was strong and as stubborn as ever and was not going anywhere. She was currently on her 5th rendition of How can we be Lovers? and Vivienne and Lenny swore they never wanted to hear another Michael Bolton song again.

As they sat at the bar with their head in their hands, Lenny saw the door open in her peripheral vision and when she saw who it was, it was like an angel had come to them. Lenny bashed Vivienne in the arm, who looked up and looked happier than she had all night.

 _Aaron Shore. Their guardian angel. In the flesh._

Aaron gave them a knowing look before leaning on the wall nearest the stage while Emily finished her song. He'd never seen her like this. She was completely free and all her inhabtions we gone.

As she finished up her song, she bowed and Aaron chuckled. His chuckle sent shivers through Emily's body. She would know that sound anywhere. She turned her head and saw Aaron standing there, arms crossed, smirking at her.

"Aaron Shore... as I live and breath... I take it you didn't listen to my message because I told you _not_ to come" Emily said as she tapped him on the nose.

"Oh I listened to it, I just chose to ignore it... that was quite the performance you put on there." Aaron said.

"Why thank you" Emily said with a giggle as she stumbled. "If the political route doesn't work out, I now know I have a future as a Michael Bolton impersonator."

"Uh huh... you ready to go home yet?" Aaron asked.

"Aaron, you can't just _waltz_ in here and expect me to go home with you..." Emily said as she rolled her eyes in an especially dramatic fashion.

"I mean you did say I was hot as hell..." Aaron joked. He had no intention of taking Emily to his house, he just wanted to make sure she got home safe.

"Wow, confident much?" Emily said with a scoff. "I can get home myself Aaron, you don't need to be some knight in shining armour, I am a _perfectly_ capable human being..." Emily said as she stumbled down the steps, causing Aaron to reach out and hold her up.

"Yeah, perfectly capable" Aaron said as Emily wrapped her arm around his shoulder.

"I'm tried Aaron... I'm tired of all of it" Emily said on a more serious note. He knew in that moment that she was talking about more than physically tiredness.

"Ok... let's get you home then." he said as she closed her eyes and he lifted her into his arms.

* * *

A short while later, Aaron had made it back to Emily's dorm and set her down on her bed. He pulled the covers up over her and was about to leave, when she grabbed his hand and opened her eyes.

"What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were in New York..." she mumbled.

"I had the weekend off, thought I would come visit George and Warner." Aaron explained. "What were you doing tonight Emily? You never do this."

"I got dumped this morning... he said I was too much of a Jackie and he wanted a Marilyn. Is that really what people want these days? A blonde with big boobs? What's wrong with intelligence and brawn and boldness?"

"Most guys don't want a Marilyn, Emily. By the sound of things you're too good for this guy. You're too good for all of us..." he told her, meaning it from the bottom of his heart.

Emily sighed as a single tear ran down her cheek, all of a sudden feeling sober. "I'm just sick of not being wanted." she confessed as her voice cracked. "You left twice Aaron. Just when I thought we were getting over this whole frenemy thing... we almost had our chance and you were gone. Are we ever going to get our chance?"

"I don't know Emily... but I hope so." he said as he ran his hand through her hair until she drifted off to sleep. Emily Rhodes would forever be the girl that got away from him, _twice_ , and he hoped they would never make it to a third.

When Emily woke up the next morning, he was gone and she felt the deepest pit in her stomach. She couldn't remember exactly what they talked about, but she knew that she felt empty now.

Vivienne had told her that Aaron left an important dinner party with a high political figure when he got her voice mail, because in that moment, she was more important to him than any career path her might have been able to follow.

Somehow, Aaron Shore was able to make her life that much brighter for the briefest of moments, but also make it feel so empty again, when yet another one of their moments passed.


	14. Practice Makes Perfect

**Thank you all so much for your reviews! They really put a smile on my face.**

 **I would love to write a chapter on Emily and Aaron's first night together as a couple... but I'm not convinced I would write it very well and I don't want it to be a let down for you guys... I'm definitely not ruling it out though, and I'll keep working on it and hopefully find a way to make it work! If you have any suggestions, please let me know in the reviews!**

 **For now, do you think Emily and Aaron would make good parents?**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Practice Makes Perfect**

* * *

It was a Sunday morning and Aaron was excited for the day ahead. He and Emily had the day off and they were both looking forward to spending it on the sofa, eating and binge watching TV. They knew that they weren't a normal couple in a normal relationship, so rare time off was time that they treasured- time they treasured doing nothing.

Before they started their do nothing day, Aaron decided that he would go for a run, another thing he rarely had time for. He used to run a lot, it was his chance to clear his head. He had run track in high school and college when football season was out, and he was just as excellent at that. He took Emily running with him once and she swore to never do it again.

He arrived back to the house at around 8am and as he opened the door he heard Emily in the kitchen and smelt the faint aroma of pancakes. He made his way to the back of the house and saw her with her back to him, putting the cooked pancakes onto a plate.

"I didn't think you would be up" he said as he walked towards her, trapping her infront of the counter and he kissed down her neck.

"Ew, Aaron you're all sweaty..." Emily said with a giggle as Aaron deepend his kisses down her neck.

"Well how about you help me take a shower then?" he suggested.

"I think you're going to want to stop that" Emily said as she heard the tiny pitter patter of feet coming from the hallway.

"Why?" Aaron asked.

"Uncle Aaron!" He heard a voice say as he turned around and saw his godson.

At 5 years old, James 'Jamie' Shapiro was an energetic little boy, ready for adventure and mischief. He kept Vivienne and Warner on their toes, and he absolutely adored his godparents. They spoiled him rotten and he always had the most fun when he was with them.

"Jamie" Aaron said as she little boy launched himself into his godfather's arms. Aaron lifted him up and turned to Emily; "Jamie's here" Aaron said, not expecting him to be here today.

"Yeah that's why I'm up so early making pancakes. Vivienne called, her grandpa passed away yesterday so she and Warner had to head to New York till tomorrow so I offered to take Jamie for the night." Emily explained.

"Did you hear that Uncle Aaron?! I get to stay with you allllll day! We're going to have so much fun!" Jamie said as he wiggled his way out of Aaron's arms and ran back into the den.

"I'm sorry we're not getting our do nothing day" Emily said.

"A Jamie day is just as good as a do nothing day, you know how much I love him." Aaron assured her as Emily smiled softly, loving Aaron's relationship with their godson. "And maybe we could have a do nothing day with Jamie..."

"You're kidding, right?" Emily said raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah you're right, that's a little optimistic... so, pancakes?"

* * *

Emily and Aaron lay on their backs on the floor of the den, staring at the ceiling as Jamie ran circles around them, giggling and playing in his own imaginary world. He had wiped them out, and they hadn't even had lunch.

"It's 12pm. How can it only be 12pm?" Emily asked, feeling too exhausted to move anything but his mouth.

"He hasn't stopped moving for even 2 seconds. How is that possible?" Aaron asked as they both sat up on their elbows and watched as Jamie flew his toy planes through the air. "I told you not to put chocolate syrup on his pancakes..." Aaron mumbled.

"Uh... if I remember correctly, you were the one who put on an extra dollop of chocolate syrup, so don't even try to blame his sugar rush on me." Emily said as Aaron stood up.

"Hey Jamie, shall we go and get some lunch?" He asked as Jamie dropped his planes and grabbed his hand, dragging him into the kitchen.

"Can we have ice cream for lunch Aaron?" Jamie asked hopefully as Aaron lifted him up onto one of the stools at the island.

"I don't think so bud, ice cream isn't really lunch food." Aaron said as she rummaged through the cupboards for something to eat.

"Pleeeeeease Aaron! I really want ice cream!"

"If you eat ice cream now you won't sleep tonight and then by tomorrow, you'll be too tired to play" Aaron tried to reason.

"Tired? I don't get tired!" Jamie insisted. "Emmy, please can I have ice cream?" Jamie said looking at him with wide eyes and a sweet smile.

"Do those puppy dog eyes and that sweet smile get you things in your house?" Emily asked.

"Uh huh! But only from mommy, she can't say no to her baby boy." Jamie said with a giggle.

"Is it bad that a five year old is the best emotional manipulator I've ever seen?" Aaron said with a scoff.

"Well he's won me over. How about after dinner instead?" Emily suggested.

"Yeahhhhh!" Jamie said as Aaron handed him some fruit to munch on.

"You're really going to give into him that easily?" Aaron asked.

"Oh come on Aaron, we're his godparents, we're supposed to spoil him and let him eat a load of ice cream" Emily justified.

"I'm just saying, you won't be up for giving into our kids that easily-"

"Our kids? We're having kids now?" Emily asked with a smirk and raised eyebrow.

"Uh... maybe." Aaron said awkwardly. "It's something to discuss..." Truth was, Aaron wanted nothing more than to have babies with Emily Rhodes. He couldn't imagine anything better than a little person who was half him, half her. He couldn't imagine anything better than having their own family.

"Huh... good to know" Emily said as she smiled down at her feet before leaving the kitchen.

Aaron gulped. He didn't mean to freak her out by suggesting they were going to have kids. He didn't really know where she stood on the matter, now the cat was out of the bag and it was something they were going to have to address sooner or later.

* * *

That night, Aaron stood at the end of the hallway, towel in hand, ready to run. At the other end of the hallway stood a butt naked Jamie, fresh out of the bath, not wanting to get dressed.

"Jamie... can you please... get dressed." Aaron asked, having tried to negotiate with the five year old for the past 15 minutes.

"Nope!" Jamie said as he ran down the stairs, with Aaron quick on his tail.

Every time Aaron caught him, he managed to wiggle free of his grasp, and hide somewhere in the house. This had been going on for half an hour straight, with neither Emily or Aaron being successful in capturing him.

"I think we need a net and a tranquilizer" Aaron suggested as he sat down on the sofa beside Emily, who had given up 20 minutes ago. "Still think giving him ice cream was a good idea?"

"I don't even know anymore. If this is parenting, I'm not sure I'm cut out for it" Emily said as she ran a hand through her hair, watching as Jamie ran circles around the sofa.

Aaron's head shot round to look at her; "You don't want to be a mom?"

"I was just kidding Aaron, I haven't thought about whether I wanted to be a mom" Emily said awkwardly.

"You've never thought about it?"

"Well, I mean I've thought about it but right now it's not exactly something on my mind..." Emily said.

"What have you thought about it?" Aaron asked eagerly.

"What's with the 20 questions?" Emily said with a chuckle.

"I just... I didn't mean to freak you out earlier when I said about us having kids. I know it's not something we've discussed, it was just an off handed comment but-"

"Aaron. Stop." Emily said as she sat up and turned to face him. "Do you want to have kids with me?" she asked sincerely.

"... Yeah. I do." he said quietly.

Emily nodded then smiled; "Well that's good cause... I want to have kids with you too." Emily said as Aaron pulled her into his chest and hugged her close, kissing her head. "Though it's still up for debate whether I'd be a good mom. I just fed my godson far too much ice cream..." she said with a light laugh. "Do you think we'd be good parents Aaron?" she asked seriously and quietly.

"Yeah. I do. You had a great example of parents and I didn't but... I can learn from their mistakes. There isn't any way to be the perfect parent Emily, but there are a thousand ways to be a really good one." Aaron told her.

Emily smiled, before furrowing her eyebrows and lifting her head. "Why is it so quiet?" she asked as Aaron too shot up.

"Where is Jamie?" Aaron asked as they stood up quickly.

They didn't have to look far, as Emily peared round the edge of the sofa, and saw Jamie lying fast asleep on the floor. "Aaron..." she said with a light laugh as he walked over and smirked when he saw Jamie lying there.

"Looks like running around in circles all day really tired him out." Aaron said as he lifted the little boy, allowing Emily to slip his pyjamas on over his head.

"Maybe that's the key to feeding them lots of sugar?" Emily suggested, before both of them burst out into silent laughter.

"I think we're going to need to refine our parenting skills a little bit before we have any babies" Emily said as she followed Aaron to their spare room to tuck Jamie into bed.

"Yeah I think so... but if our kid is as good as Jamie... I think we'll be ok." Aaron said as they both kissed him goodnight.

As Emily closed the door, Aaron wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"So..." Emily began; "I know we're not planning on having kids right now but uh... there's no harm in practicing... right?"

"Oh no I see no harm at all..." Aaron said as he lent down and kissed her lightly. Before she grabbed his tshirt in her hands, and pulled him into their bedroom.


	15. Green-Eyed Monster

**Hi everyone! Sorry about posting this slightly later than usual, I have been swamped with work this week...**

 **Thank you for all the reviews and especially for the tips on writing Emily and Aaron's first night together. I started writing it, but it didn't save properly so I have to start it again... but I remember most of what I wrote, and there are some aspects of this chapter that are important for it. I hope everyone likes how I decided to write it.**

 **For now, back to high school again in this chapter, as George invites everyone to Hawaii for Spring Break...**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Green-Eyed Monster**

* * *

"We're going to Hawaii!" Lenny screeched as she entered the girl's dorm with Vivienne clapping happily behind her.

"I'm sorry, what?" Emily asked as she put her book down.

"George just invited the three of us to Hawaii for the first week of spring break, with him and Warner and Aaron." Lenny elaborated.

"Oh" Emily merely said.

"Why aren't you excited?" Vivienne said with a frown. "You always said you wanted to travel."

"I know I did, I'm not not sure going to Hawaii right now is the time to do that" Emily said.

"You were just planning on staying here for the week since your parents are away and your brothers are working, why not now?" Lenny asked.

"I have work to do" Emily justified.

"Emily we always have work to do, but you know what we also have to do? Be teenagers! And go on spontaneous trips to Hawaii!" Lenny said as she pulled Emily to her feet. "We don't even have to pay for anything, George's family have it covered."

"I don't have any summer clothes up with me" Emily added.

"Well that's just the perfect reason for a shopping spree now isn't it?" Vivienne said happily.

Emily sighed. She was running out excuses. It's not that she didn't want to go on holiday, she just didn't want to go on holiday with Aaron Shore. Sometimes, they got on well, but right now, they were in one of their bad spells were everything they said to each other was bitey and mean.

"This isn't about Aaron, is it?" Lenny asked, thinking she'd finally caught on to why Emily was reluctant to go.

"Not everything is about Aaron." Emily sniped a little too quickly.

"And I think I just got my answer." Lenny said, raising her eyebrow.

"It's not going to be much of a holiday if he's an asshole to me all week Lenny" Emily said as she folded her arms.

"You know what, you two just need to do it." Vivienne piped in.

"Vivienne!" Emily exclaimed.

Vivienne shrugged; "I'm not even kidding right now. You just got to do it. All that tension will be released and maybe then you can learn to tolerate each other... or more."

"I am not sleeping with Aaron." Emily said definitively.

Vivienne smirked; "Let's make a little deal. If you manage to make it to 31, without sleeping with Aaron Shore... I'll cut all my hair off."

"... Are you kidding?" Emily said as she narrowed her eyes. Vivienne's long, blonde locks were her pride and joy. There's no way she'd cut them for a trivial bet.

"Nope! I'm serious. That's how sure I am it's going to happen. Maybe not on this holiday, maybe not before he goes off to college. But one day. It's going to happen" Vivienne stated surely.

"Fine. You're going to need the next 15 years to mentally prepare yourself for cutting your hair anyway. What do you get if I do sleep with him before I'm 31?" Emily asked, knowing Vivienne would want something to bargain for.

"You name the first little Rhodes-Shore baby after me" Vivienne said.

"You're crazy"

"I know, that's why you love me. Now, shopping!" Vivienne said as she linked arms with Lenny and Emily and dragged them out of the room.

* * *

The following day, George sent a car to get the girls and bring them to the airport. They were driven out to the runway to George's private jet, and saw the boys waiting outside for them to arrive. Lenny and Vivienne happily got out of the car to greet their friends, while Emily trudged behind, her sunglasses covering her tired eyes.

"Well, well, well... I don't think I've ever seen Emily Rhodes look so dishevelled." Aaron said as he walked towards her and crossed his arms.

"Not today Aaron" Emily mumbled as she put her hands in the pockets of her denim jacket.

"Why are you so out of it?"

"Because somehow I allowed Vivienne and Lenny to convince me to go to Hawaii for the week instead of staying in DC and doing all the work I had planned to do, so I had to cram as much as possible in last night." Emily explained. "Is that ok?"

"You're such a sweat" Aaron said with a chuckle.

"Says the guy at the top of his class." Emily challenged.

"Oh I'm just naturally gifted, no effort required" Aaron teased.

"You're the worst" Emily mumbled as she pushed past him and walked up the steps to the plane.

Aaron was quick on her tail and as she sat down on the plane, he sat right beside her.

"Go away" she said.

"Nope. We're sitting beside each other, until you like me again"

"Again? That implies I liked you in the first place" Emily responded.

"I'm not all that bad" he said with a crooked smirk.

"Last week you called me a pyschopath who needed to take the large stick shoved up her ass, out of it." Emily challenged.

"Are you kidding? That's why you're mad at me? Emily, you call me a dick almost every day!" Aaron repsonded.

"And you insult my intelligence almost everyday by calling me a minor leaguer!"

"GUYS!" George shouted as the pair looked up to the other four standing in front of them with their arms folded. "You two are not going to ruin this holiday with your stupid bickering. So can you please, either learn to get along, or just don't talk!"

Emily and Aaron huffed in their chairs in silence, their arms crossed and their bodies turned as far away from each other as possible. This was going to be a long flight.

* * *

Some hours later, Aaron opened his eyes and looked around him. They were still on the plane, but he could hear Warner mumbling about how they were landing soon. He must have fallen asleep as he looked down at his watch.

He was suddenly made aware to the pressure that was on his right shoulder and the hair that was tickling his face. He turned his head and saw Emily fast asleep on his shoulder, her knees pulled up to her chest, leaning in Aaron's direction. Aaron also noticed that his arm was dangled across her knee and that before he woke up, his cheek had been resting on her head.

He looked up and saw Vivienne smirking at them.

"You can stop smirking Vivienne." Aaron said simply as he sat up straighter, not wanting to disturb Emily's sleep.

"I'm just surprised you haven't woken her up in a mean fashion" Vivienne said with a shrug.

"Well... she was tired so... she should sleep" Aaron said with a shrug. They may have been mad at each other but he wasn't a monster and he still cared.

"Right... you guys are totally going to thank me one day for the photos I snapped."

Aaron chuckled lightly. He was sure that when Emily woke up, she was somehow going to find a way to blame him for her falling asleep on his shoulder and she would somehow find a way to blame him for Vivienne taking the photographs. However, as frustrating as his fighting with Emily was, there was a part of him that wouldn't change it for the world.

* * *

Once the six teens arrived at the resort, the girls insisted that they go to the pool. Straight away. After leaving their bags in their suite, they quickly changed and headed down. When they arrived they noticed that this seemed to be a resort for a specific type of person- attractive.

"Uh... is it just me, or do they only let supermodels and fitness gurus stay here?" Lenny asked as they looked around at the toned and tanned men and women, prancing around in their bathing suits.

"Well they let you stay so..." George teased as Lenny pushed him.

Emily watched as Vivienne and Lenny stood awkwardly. The normally confident girls were letting the people around them make them far too self aware, and Emily wasn't about to let that happen. She also wasn't about to let them ruin their holiday.

"Who cares what they look like" Emily said as she set her bag down, took her sunglasses and shoes off, before pulling her sundress over her head, revealing her yellow bikini that she had purchased when the girls went for their shopping trip. "We're here for a fun holiday and that's exactly what we're going to have." she said as she allowed her new found confidence to take over. She strutted to the edge of the pool and dived straight in as the others stood in shock.

"I'm sorry... was that really Emily Rhodes who just dived into that pool?" Warner asked. "Our friend Emily, who is more comfortable in sweats and jumpers than a bikini?"

"That is definitely the Emily Rhodes we know and love" Vivienne said as she and Lenny followed suit and dived into the pool.

Warner and George soon followed, but Aaron stood back for a moment in shock. He'd never seen Emily exhibit such confidence, even if it was something small. He gulped when he saw her climb out of the pool at the other end and push her hair out of her face. She was _hot. When did Emily Rhodes get hot?_ Aaron always thought she was beautiful, he'd never found himself getting nervous about it.

Lenny swam to the sid of the pool and smirked at Aaron when she saw him staring at Emily.

"Take a picture Aaron, it'll last longer" she teased.

"I think maybe a cold shower would work a little better" George added as he swamp off to dunk Warner.

"What?" he said, snapping out of his trance.

"You're staring at Emily" Lenny said as if it were obvious.

"No I'm not." Aaron said as he crossed his arms. He looked over to her again and saw that a guy had approached her. He looked about their age, with perfect hair, perfect tan and a perfect smile. He said something to Emily and she laughed. Aaron felt a twinge inside. This shouldn't bother him. Why did it bother him?

"Who's the guy?" Aaron asked, trying to ask as natually as possible.

Lenny turned round to see who he was talking about; "Don't know. But he's cute."

"Whatever..." Aaron mumbled as he sat down on one of the deck chairs and lifted out a book.

"Jealousy does not suit you Shore" Lenny said, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't get jealous" Aaron said simply.

"Tell that to the green eyed monster sitting on your shoulder." Lenny said before diving back under the water.

A few moments later, Aaron watched as Emily walked back to where they had left their stuff with a spring in her step. She was blushing slightly and couldn't wipe the grin off her face. Aaron let his sunglasses shield his eyes as he looked over his book at her. She sat on the deck chair beside him.

"My, my how the tables have turned." Emily said with a giggle; "I didn't think you'd be the one sitting with a book and broody look on your face."

"I just didn't really fancy swimming" Aaron said with a shrug.

Emily nodded her head as she rifled through her bag. She lifted out some sunscreen and reached over to Aaron.

"Will you put some sunscreen on my back?" she asked. "Please?"

"I take it that means you're talking to me now?" he said as he raised his eyebrow. He was right, she had found a way to blame him for her falling asleep on his shoulder, and she was still ignoring him, but she had a new lease of life since she came down to the pool. She hoped it wasn't because of that guy.

Emily stiffened her posture; "I think we can find a way to get along so we can enjoy our holiday..." she said simply.

Aaron nodded his head once as he took the sunscreen from her. He stood up and sat behind her on her deck chair and began to cover her back. To Emily, his touch was electrifying. She didn't expect it as she gulped. Little did she know that Aaron felt it too.

Aaron cleared his throat to speak; "So uh... who was that guy you were talking to?"

"Oh his name was Oliver, he's from London. He's here with some friends for a holiday... he was just saying hi" Emily said.

"Right..." Aaron said.

"I uh... I think I might meet him later on for a drink or something..." Emily said with a shrug.

Aaron didn't say anything, fearing that the next thing that would come out of his mouth would just annoy her. He would sound like the jealous boyfriend. Something that he most definitely was not.

So instead, he handed her the sunscreen, stood up and went back to his book. Emily looked down at her hands, feeling that something was wrong, something was off.

"Why are you so quiet all of a sudden?" Emily asked.

 _Because you should be going for drinks with me and not that weasel._ Was was Aaron really wanted to say. Instead, he opted to take his shirt off, shrug at her and say "No reason" before getting into the pool.

Emily sighed. They were both too stubborn for their own good.

* * *

Later that night, everyone was relaxing in the living area of the suite, when the bedroom door behind them opened and Vivienne looked over.

"Oh my god" she mumbled. "You look amazing!" she said excitedly as everyone else looked up and saw Emily standing awkwardly.

She had on a floral sundress, sandals and a yellow hibiscus tucked behind her ear, pulling some of her waves off her face.

"Yeah I figured I would embrace the Hawaii traditional flower and all that..." She said with a little laugh as she motioned to the flower in her hair.

"Viv is right Em, you look beautiful." Lenny said as she hugged her friends. "Doesn't she look beautiful guys?"

"You always look beautiful Em" Warner said with a lopsided smirk.

"Always the charmer Warner... I should get going. I won't be late." Emily said as she as she opened the door. "See you guys!" She said before leaving.

Vivienne looked over at Aaron who was standing with his hands in his pockets, clearly bothered by what Emily was doing tonight. She walked over to him and handed him a bracelet.

"If you're looking for an excuse to go and talk to her before she goes... this is it" she said as he took the bracelet and nodded lightly.

As we walked out the door, he saw Emily waiting for the lift and quickly approached her.

"Emily" he said a little more keenly than he had intended.

"Aaron... everything ok?" she said turning to him.

"You uh... you forgot this" he said holding up the bracelet. "Or maybe you didn't, maybe you didn't intend on wearing it but uh... you always wear it, so I thought you might want it." he said as she took the charm bracelet from him.

"Thanks, I'm surprised you noticed I always wear it" she said with a small smile.

"Yeah well you're always fiddling with it, hard not to notice..." he justified as she slipped the bracelet on.

"Right... well thanks again. I should go..." she said nervously as Aaron nodded.

"Right, have a nice time" he said through his teeth as he turned around and walked away.

He only made it a few steps before he stopped and turned back. "Hey Emily?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful"

"Of what?"

"Oh you know... people... I mean you don't really know this guy so I'm just saying... be careful." he said awkwardly.

Emily smirked; "Aaron are you worried about me?"

"What? No" he said quickly.

"It's just a drink" she reminded him.

"I know, I know..."

"Or maybe... jealous is the better word." she said boldly, eyeing him suspiciously.

Aaron smirked; "I don't get jealous"

"Sure you don't." Emily said as the elevator doors opened. "Good night Aaron" she said with a light laugh as she climbed onto the lift.

Aaron ran a hand across his face and cursed him for his awkwardness. He was normally so smooth. Why was he letting this get to him?

* * *

A little while later, Aaron was walking through the complex when he spotted Emily sitting by the empty pool, dipping her feet in the water. He slowly approached her, not sure what kind of mood he would find her in.

"Hey..." he said cautiously as she turned around.

"Hey" she replied.

"This seat taken?"

"It's a free pool" Emily said as Aaron sat beside her and put his feet in the water.

"How was your date?" Aaron asked.

"Honestly? Terrible. I think he was maybe more interested in getting me into his bed than just having a nice, fun time that simply involved a drink and good conversation." Emily confessed.

"I'm sorry" Aaron said, not really sure what the right response should be in that moment.

"Not your fault, it's mine... I should have known better."

"You can't blame yourself for him being an idiot."

"I don't know what happened to be today Aaron. I suddenly found this new lease of life and I got carried away because a boy told me I was pretty. Which in hindsight is totally bizarre. By the sound of things he would like any female with a pulse..." Emily rambled.

"Why would you find it so hard to believe that someone finds you pretty?" Aaron asked.

"Cause no one ever has"

"Are you kidding? _You're beautiful_." Aaron said sincerely as Emily turned her head to look at him after a moment of staring, Emily quickly turned away and chuckled. "And you were right earlier... I was jealous. It's been a day of new discoveries. You have a beautiful confidence and I have a jealous and brooding streak. I guess I just didn't like seeing you with someone who just... wasn't worthy. Even if it was just for a fleeting spring fling." Aaron said as Emily smiled down at her feet.

In that moment, Aaron could feel her begin to recoil into herself again, and he decided that that needed to stop.

"You still feeling confident and spontaneous?" Aaron asked.

Emily furrowed her eyebrow; "Depends..." she said cautiously as Aaron smirked before standing up.

He then took his shirt off, followed by his shorts and then his underwear.

"What the heck are you doing?!" Emily said as she didn't know where to look.

" _We_ are skinny dipping" he said as he cannonballed into the pool.

"Oh my god!" Emily said as he splashed her.

As he rose from the water, Emily still had a look of shock on her face. "Come on Rhodes!" Aaron shouted at her.

"Are you crazy?! What if we get caught?"

"That's the fun of it! Come on! When are you ever going to get the chance to do this again? We're going to go back to Washington again and we're going to have to be studious prep school kids again... let's live like normal kids for once." Aaron said.

Emily contemplated it for a moment. I mean... she was only young once... right? Before even Emily knew it herself, she had stripped down and dived into the pool.

"Oh my God this is going to be a story to tell." Aaron teased as Emily splashed him.

"I can't believe I just did that" Emily said as she tried to stay afloat.

"Neither can I to be honest. But I'm proud of you Rhodes. You're really embracing life on the edge this spring break." he said with a smirk.

Emily narrowed her eyebrows at him; "You're going to bring this up at the most inopportune moments in my life aren't you?"

"Are you saying that I'm going to be in your life to be able to do that?" Aaron challenged.

Emily stared at him; "Something tells me that no matter how hard people try to get rid of you... when Aaron Shore enters their life, he's there to stay."

At the end of the week, Aaron managed to find an Hawaiian hibiscus charm that fit perfectly on Emily's bracelet, and to this day, she constantly walked round the White House, fiddling with it. Every time Aaron saw her do it, he couldn't help but notice the smirk that graced her face as she thought back to that day in Hawaii. A day they would never forget.


	16. Finding Forever

**Thank you all for your reviews!**

 **Here is the morning after Emily and Aaron's first night together… enjoy!**

* * *

 **Finding Forever**

* * *

Aaron lay on his side, unable to hide the small smile that was gracing his face. Yesterday, Aaron and Emily had finally put their pride to one side and admit how they felt about each other. What had started as a dislike, moved into a phase of tolerance, that then developed into a crush, and before either of them knew it, they had made it to their 30s and had fallen hopelessly in love. Neither had anticipated it, neither wanted to admit, but they finally tore down the other's defences and everything, for the first time since they were teenagers, felt _right._

Aaron gazed at the woman lying beside him, also on her side, fast asleep. Their legs were tanged under the sheets and in that moment Aaron knew he wanted every day to start like this. She looked so peaceful and content and Aaron couldn't quite believe that she was his. He now understood why the timing was never right, because timing was waiting for this moment. It was waiting for the perfect moment for it all to fall into place.

Emily's eyes fluttered open and she chuckled when she saw Aaron gazing down at her in awe.

"You look like you've never had a woman in your bed before." She teased.

"Not the right one" he responded off the bat.

"And you think I'm the right one?" she said furrowing her eyebrows. "How do you know I wasn't planning on sleeping with you then tossing you to the side?" she teased.

"I don't see how you'd ever want to give up this…" he said as he rolled on top of her and began kissing down her body. Their first night together had been everything they had hoped it would be and more. 14 years of love was explored in one night and they never wanted it to end.

Emily's hands roamed through Aaron's now tossed curls as she closed her eyes and arched her back.

Aaron now knew exactly how to weaken her defences. He knew all her sweet spots and all her pleasure spots, and she had never been so vulnerable emotionally and physically before a person. She kinda hated… but she also loved nothing more.

While Aaron worked to stop her quick tongue, Emily kept going.

"So now that you've seen me naked you think that's that? You have me right where you want me?" she said as Aaron stopped at her belly button and looked up.

"I've seen you naked before"

Emily quickly shot back to reality and opened her eyes, looking down at Aaron. "When have you ever seen me naked?"

"Skinny dipping in Hawaii" Aaron said simply. "I _know_ you have not forgotten that night. You play with your hibiscus charm almost every day and then you smirk."

"Stalker" Emily said, raising an eyebrow at Aaron for watching her little movements. "And of course, I haven't forgotten that night, it just never really occurred to me that you would have seen me naked…"

Aaron raised an eyebrow at her as she rolled her eyes and lightly slapped the side of his head; "Yes I know that is the dumbest thing in the world, no need to tease."

"I think it's safe to say that there will be no escape from teasing between the two of us" he said as he moved back up, resting his hands on either side of her, allowing their noses to graze.

Emily brushed a few of his curls off his forehead. "I forgot how curly your hair was"

"It's kinda ridiculous" he said as he ran a hand through it.

"I love it" she said as she kissed him lightly.

"I love _you"_

"Since when did you become such a cheese ball?" Emily asked with a giggle.

"Love makes you do weird things."

Emily smiled widely; "You love me" she stated, as if to remind herself that this was real. Years of ifs, buts and maybes had finally brought them here.

Aaron chuckled; "You bet your ass I do. I think a part of me always has and… I know I always will."

"Well I love you too" she said softly as he leant down and kissed her fiercely.

Before things went too far, Emily started laughing and Aaron moved backwards, looking at her, confused.

"I'm lying naked on top of you… and you're laughing? My God, I didn't think I was that bad…" Aaron said as he rolled back onto his side, resting his arm across her waist.

"You think far too highly of yourself Shore" Emily said as Aaron glared. "I'm kidding, I was just thinking about Vivienne"

Aaron raised his eyebrows; "That's even worse. You're thinking about your best friend?"

"Not exactly Vivienne, just this bet we made when we were 16…"

"A bet? A bet about what?"

"About you"

"What about me?"

"Well, more about us than you specifically…"

"Emily, what bet?" He asked growing frustrated by the long road she was taking to answer the question.

"Just that if by 31 I hadn't slept with you… Vivienne would cut her hair"

Aaron furrowed his eyebrows; "Vivienne loves her hair"

"I know, that what I said! But she was so convinced that we were going to do it that it didn't even phase her." Emily said as she looked up at the ceiling. "Could you have imagined how Vivienne would have reacted if I had have shown up to her house with a pair of scissors?"

"I really don't think it would have gone down well"

"Definitely not… she's lucky that the guilt of what happened between us was eating me alive and I had to tell you that I loved you. I don't think I could have waited 8 months till my 31st birthday." Emily said.

Aaron nodded lightly. He hated that Emily felt guilty. He hated that he hadn't worked harder to fix what happened between them sooner.

"You know we never really talked about what happened between us recently… with the whole me being a suspect thing." Aaron said quietly.

"It's ok, I don't really know what else there is to say. I'll probably be apologising to you for the rest of my life for running checks on you" Emily said as she turned to look at him.

"You don't need to do that. I don't want you to do that because I don't blame you. I never did. I was a complete jerk to you for just doing your job and I know that you never really thought I had anything to do with it… I just struggled to get my head around the fact that we were so close to finally getting our chance, and then it was taken away from us in the blink of an eye. I didn't know how to deal with that."

"Timing never really seemed to be on our side huh?" Emily said sadly.

"No, but it is now. I'm never letting you go again Emily." He said as she cupped his cheeks in her hands and kissed him before resting their foreheads against each other's.

"I can't believe it's taken us 14 years to get here" Emily said quietly.

"14 years is a lot of years to catch up on…" he said with a smirk that Emily returned.

"Oh absolutely…" she said. "Reasonably, I have a couple of hours before I need to go into work…" she teased as she straddled his lap.

"I am the luckiest guy in the world" he said as she smiled brightly.

"And you're about to get luckier." She replied as she let the sheet wrapped around her pool at her waist, grinding her hips against his, feeling his body react immediately.

Aaron was quick off the bat, and spun her round so she was pinned underneath him.

"Having you love me is all the luck I need" he responded.

"Well then you're going to lucky for a whole life time, cause I'm here to stay"

"Good."

With that, he swooped down and kissed her with everything that was in him, allowing themselves to become lost in each other. Every emotion that had been left suppressed over the last 14 years flooded into this moment, and they knew that they had finally found their forever.


	17. Trick or Treat?

**Loosely based on 2x05… enjoy**

* * *

 **Trick or Treat?**

* * *

Emily stood in the doorway of Aaron's office with her arms crossed, eyebrows furrowed and foot tapping. It was Halloween and for as long as Emily and Aaron had known each other, Halloween meant tricks. Elaborate, often humiliating, tricks.

Emily had been walking around all day telling people that she hated tricks but loved treats to make sure no one else thought about trying to get one over on her at Aaron's bidding, but Aaron himself remained oblivious to the whole thing. He had been getting on with his work all day. It was like he had forgotten.

But Emily knew better than to believe that. She knew he was up to something, and she was determined to figure out what.

Aaron looked up from the file he was reviewing when he noticed Emily in his peripheral vision.

He gulped; "… am I in trouble?"

"I don't know… have you done something that could get you in trouble?" she asked suspiciously.

"Uh… I don't think so…"

"Right… It's Halloween" Emily said as she walked into his office and towards his desk.

"I know. I've heard you've been giving your whole "I hate tricks, but I love treats spiel" all day. Which is a total lie, you love tricks, elaborate tricks." Aaron said with a smirk. "Need we look further than the prank wars of '02."

"I know I love tricks, and I also know you love tricks, yet you haven't tried anything." Emily said, folding her arms once more and eyeing him suspiciously.

"And what you've tried has been worthy of the minor leagues" he teased. "You replaced my coffee with a mixture of god knows what, you replaced my aftershave with a perfume that resembles what my grandmother wore and your tripped me up in the middle of the West Wing."

"Maybe that's just a little warm up to a bigger set up later…" Emily said with a shrug. Truth was, she hadn't come up with anything. She refused to believe that Aaron could have forgotten about their trick wars, yet she herself had forgotten until this morning, giving her no time to prepare anything.

"I guess we'll find out later then." Aaron said leaning back in his chair.

"I guess so… I'm onto you Shore." Emily said as she walked towards the door, glaring in his direction.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Emily walked into President Kirkman's office and handed him some files for him to sign. As he handed them back to her, she turned around and came face to face with Aaron. Not expecting to see him there, she let out a little scream and jumped back a few steps, dropping the files in the process.

"You ok, Emily?" Tom asked as he eyed the pair suspiciously.

"Yes sir, Aaron just snuck up on me…" she said sending a glare in her boyfriend's direction.

"You know she hates tricks Aaron" Tom said, having heard all about her spiel.

"Oh, I know sir" Aaron said, smirking at Emily.

As Tom picked up the phone to answer a call, Emily spoke quietly to Aaron.

"Is that your idea of a trick? Sneaking up behind me?" she hissed.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Aaron said with a shrug.

"I know you haven't forgotten about our Halloween tricks Aaron, don't play dumb with me." Emily said.

"Emily, I'm 33 years old, don't you think that's a little old to be playing tricks? Not to mention we're two of the most senior figures in the White House, how would it look if we were caught playing tricks?" Aaron justified.

"You weren't saying that this time last year." Emily told him.

"This time last year we were barely speaking, I had to find some way to get you to talk to me about something other than work" Aaron said, smirking as he remembered how he managed to jump out at Emily in the gardens, causing her to fall back into a pile of fresh mud.

"Yeah at that was really the way to do it…" Emily said as she rolled her eyes and left the room.

Tom hung up the phone and looked at Aaron. "How's your big plan playing out?"

Aaron smiled; "So far so good sir"

* * *

"Seth!" Emily called, catching up with her friend in the corridor.

"What's up?"

"Have you seen Aaron doing anything strange today?" Emily asked.

"Uh… no, he's been pretty flat out today, working on this murder investigation." Seth told her.

"Right…"

"Should I have noticed him doing anything strange?" Seth asked curiously.

"I mean, no probably not, if he is planning on tricking me he's probably being very stealth about it…" Emily said, looking all around her to make sure she wasn't missing something.

"I forgot about your tricking on Halloween… you know for the two most studious people I know, your dedication to pranking is quite astonishing." Seth said with a chuckle.

"I'm a big believer in indulging the child inside of you every now and again." Emily said with shrug. "I used to be super serious but then these prank wars started in high school with Aaron and I don't know, he just brought out the fun girl who grew up with three brothers. Now, I love a prank and I love a trick and so does Aaron which why I am finding it really difficult to accept that he's simply too busy to play a prank on me or that he forgot." Emily said with a sigh. "I shouldn't care about this. We're currently dealing with 'Suckergate,' why do I care about a prank?"

"Because it's something that reminds you that you have a life outside of the White House and it's something that's tied you to Aaron since you were teenagers. It's important to you." Seth said as Emily smiled lightly.

"Maybe Aaron's right, maybe we are getting to old for this…" Emily said defeated. He was right to say her pranks were worthy of the minor leagues. She was as bad as he was today.

"You still have a few more hours to come up with something" Seth said as she turned to walk in the other direction. "Oh hey, Sasha said there was some decoration problem on the terrace to the rose garden, you might want to go check it out"

"Ok will do" Emily said as she walked towards the door of the terrace.

Seth smirked and lifted out his phone to send a text.

 _She's on route._

* * *

A few moments later, Emily walked out onto the terrace. It had begun to get dark outside and the terrace was lit up with some garden lights. She walked along it and furrowed her eyebrows. There were no decorations. What was Seth talking ab- _oh no. No, no, no, no,_ she thought as she looked all around her. Seth had set her up. This was part of the trick, Aaron was going to jump out on her at any second and push her into another pile of mud, she could just feel it.

As she was looking around her, she spotted something sitting on the ground at the end of the walk way. She eyed it curiously, before talking slow steps towards it.

It was a black box. A little, square, black box. About the size of a— _oh my god._

Emily's eyes widened as she considered what was inside that box. Inside that box was a promise. A promise of a life time of love and happiness. It was a promise of forever.

She slowly bent down and picked up the box, not daring to open it.

"Hey" she heard behind her as she shot up and turned around to see Aaron standing there with his hands in his pockets.

"Hey… what is this?" she asked quietly, holding up the box.

"I know I forgot about the tricks this years… but I'm hoping this is something that will make you forget about that entirely."

"Aaron—" Emily began, feeling the tears swell in her eyes.

"Em… I just want you to know how special you are to me. When I first laid eyes on you when I was 18 years old, I knew there was something special about you, but I just could fathom that you would ever change my life in the way that you have. You are just so perfect. So intelligent, so beautiful, so witty, so bold, so daring and I love you more than words could ever say. So… open the box. Let this do the talking."

Emily looked at him in wonder. She was so crazy in love with him and she never thought feeling this way about someone was possible. She slowly opened the box, and when she looked down, her face fell.

She blinked a few times at the contents of the box.

 _Earrings. There was a pair of earrings in the box. A pair of diamond earrings. Not a ring… earrings._

"Oh… they're… earrings." Emily said, not really sure what her response should be.

"Yep! Earrings. I just saw them and thought of you and how great they would look on you" Aaron said with a smile.

"They are beautiful… thank you" she said as she closed it over.

"You're welcome."

Emily turned to walk through the door into the west wing, but she stopped in her treks, deciding she wasn't going to let Aaron get away with a big romantic declaration, only to present her with a pair of earrings.

"Aaron, why the hell would you say all those amazing things about me, leave this box sitting for me to pick up, then reveal that they're-" Emily turned on her heel and her mouth fell open. "… earrings."

She remained frozen on the spot. Aaron Shore was in front of her, down on one knee, with a little black box and the most beautiful diamond ring.

"Oh my god…"

"Em…. You know I like a trick… but I would never let you think I was going to propose to you without following through." Aaron said as Emily smiled and giggled. "Emily… you're my last thought at night and my first thought in the morning and you are the one I want to have by my side for the rest of my life and I want the rest of our life to start now. I love you, so much… so, Emily Louise Rhodes… will you marry me?"

"Yes! Of course I will marry you!" Emily said without a shadow of hesitation.

Aaron beamed as he took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger, before lifting her up and spinning her around.

"I love you" Emily said as she held onto the back of his neck and allowed him to kiss her before setting her back on the ground.

After Emily had gazed between her ring and Aaron for a few moments, her eyebrows furrowed as she processed what just happened.

"Hold on… you tricked me!" Emily shouted as she shoved his shoulder.

"Ow! Of course I tricked you, that's what happens on Halloween!" Aaron exclaimed with a chuckle.

"I can't believe you would just let me think you were going to propose and then just give me a pair of earrings… honestly though, it should like a douchebag move teenage Aaron would have come up with" she said.

"Nah the earrings were just a little something extra."

"That was simultaneously the worst trick of all and the best trick of all" Emily said as he wrapped an arm around her waist. _"We're getting married…"_ Emily said, almost in disbelief.

"Yeah and I'm the luckiest guy on Earth" Aaron said as he gazed down at her.

Emily smiled up at him as she wrapped an arm around the front of his waist. "Forever starts today… I love you Mr Shore"

"I love you _future_ Mrs Shore…" Aaron replied as Emily giggled and brought him in for a searing kiss.

They were ready to start this next chapter of their lives together, and they couldn't be more excited.


	18. Chain Reaction

**Everyone reacts to Aaron and Emily's engagement...enjoy:)**

* * *

 **Chain Reaction**

* * *

 **Lenny, Vivienne, George and Warner**

* * *

After the proposal, Emily and Aaron made their way home to celebrate before heading out for dinner with their friends. Naturally, the 'celebrations' went on a little longer than they had anticipated, and they had to rush out the door for the dinner they were already late to.

As they approached the restaurant, they spotted their friends in the window and went inside. Emily had her hands in the pockets of her coat, trying to combat the cold weather as Aaron opened the door for her and followed her inside.

Lenny took one look at the couple and her eyes widened as she stood from her chair.

" _Oh my god_ " she said slowly. " _You two are totally engaged._ "

Emily's mouth fell open; "What?"

"It's written all over your face!" Lenny said as she moved around the table and walked towards them.

"How is engagement written all over my face?"

"Apart from the fact that you have the after-sex glow that can only be the glow from celebratory sex?" Lenny said with a raised eyebrow as Emily and Aaron shifted uncomfortably in their spot. "You just took your hand out of your pocket and that thing is _blinding_!" Lenny said as she lifted her hand and gazed at her ring.

"I swear you have like a sixth sense or something" Aaron mumbled as Lenny hugged Emily tightly.

"Congratulations!" she said as she turned to hug Aaron.

George, Vivienne and Warner all took their turns to congratulate the pair before they all sat round the table. Emily recounted the story of how Aaron proposed. Aaron gained laughs and high fives from Warner and George and shaking heads from Lenny and Vivienne who dubbed it 'a mean and dirty trick.'

"Well" George began as he stood and lifted his glass. "I would like to raise a toast to the newly engaged couple. Emily and Aaron… it's been a long time coming, and we're all so excited for you to start this next part of your lives together. Congratulations" he finishes as they all clinked glasses and Aaron gave Emily a sweet kiss.

"This is so exciting, I love weddings" Vivienne said happily; "Warner can we get married again?"

"I don't know, the first time Emily and Aaron had a fight that caused them to stop speaking to each other for 4 years, I don't know if we should risk that again…" Warner teased as Emily rolled her eyes.

"Ok fine, but you know what comes after weddings? _Babies_. You know what that means, right Em?" Vivienne said with a smirk.

Emily smirked back and shook her head.

"What does that mean?" Aaron asked as he looked at Emily.

"You remember that bet I made with Vivienne about us, right?"

"Yeah, the bet that you… lost…" Aaron said as it clicked with him he didn't know all of the terms. What would happen if Emily lost and why would it include his babies?

"It's nothing that terrible, so don't freak out" Emily assured him. "If I lost I agreed to name our first baby… after Vivienne."

Aaron raised his eyebrows; "You're going to name our baby… Vivienne…?"

"Not necessarily" Vivienne piped in. "I've thought long and hard about this. You could take the end of name and call the baby Annie, which sorta sounds like 'Enne', or I have two middle names, Lydia and Rose and my maiden name is Harper! They're all perfect for little girls."

"And what if we have a boy?" Aaron asked.

Vivienne formed an o with her mouth before pulling an awkward face; "Let's just hope you have a girl first…"

* * *

 **Tom, Alex and Penny**

* * *

Emily and Aaron walked into the oval office the day after their engagement, ready to start business. They had expected to see President Kirkman already at his desk, reading through some things, but he was standing in the middle of the room, his hands folded in front of him and a smile on his face.

"Uh... morning, Sir" Emily greeted as she eyed him curiously.

"Good morning!" He replied happily.

"Is everything ok?" Emily asked further as she folded her arms.

"You tell me" he said raising an eyebrow and motioning towards her hand.

Emily looked down at her hand and was reminded of the giant rock that graced her ring finger.

"Oh!" Emily exclaimed as she looked at Aaron with a snicker before turning back to the President. "Yeah we uh... we're getting married" she said.

Tom smiled at them sincerely, before sharing a glance at Aaron, which Emily did not miss.

"But... something tells me you already knew that..." Emily said looking between the two men.

"President Kirkman may or may not have been in on it..." Aaron said nonchalantly.

"What?!" Emily exclaimed. "Anything else you would like to share with me about our engagement?"

"Well everyone knew I was playing a trick on you, but they didn't know what the trick was… except for the President." Aaron told her as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"My God… everyone in this place has a really good poker face… though I'm surprised Mr. President, normally so honest." Emily said raising her eyebrows.

Tom chuckled; "I'm sorry to keep you in the dark Emily and let Aaron trick you but… it had to be special."

Emily shrugged; "I do love surprises…"

"Congratulations." Tom said as he shook Aaron's hand and hugged Emily. "It's about time this White House had some good news."

At that moment, the door opened, and Alex and Penny came through the door.

"Morning everyone, sorry to barge in, Penny just wanted to say goodbye before she headed off to school." Alex informed them as Penny approached the three adults.

She stopped in her tracks when she noticed the light hitting Emily's diamond.

"Wow…" she said in a whisper. "It's so pretty…"

Alex chuckled; "What's so pretty honey?"

"The diamond!" Penny said as she lifted Emily's hand to get a better look at it.

"Oh my gosh!" Alex said as a smile graced her face. "You're getting married?"

"Yeah" Emily said as she smiled and giggled as Alex pulled her in for a hug.

"This is so exciting! Isn't that exciting Penny?"

"Am I going to get to go to a wedding?!" Penny asked excitedly. "With flowers and dancing and cake and pretty dresses?!"

Emily chuckled; "Yeah Pen you're going to get to go to a wedding"

"Yes!" she said happily as she hugged Emily and Aaron at once. "Everyone at school is going to be sooooo jealous!"

* * *

 **Seth**

* * *

"Seth! Seth!"

"What can you say about sucker gate?"

"Don't call it sucker gate"

"Seth! Seth!"

Seth sighed as the press continuously shouted at him. He saw Emily slip in the back and decided that it was time for him to wrap this up.

"Seth!"

"Ok one last question, Natasha."

"Seth, is it true that chief of staff Emily Rhodes was spotted with an engagement ring on this morning?"

"Uh…"

"Sources claim it was a whopper of a diamond and incredibly hard to miss, so something tells me that it's very true. Care to comment on the White House Chief of Staff and the National Security Adviser's engagement?"

Seth wasn't sure what to say. Emily and Aaron got engaged? And he didn't know? He looked to the back of the room as Emily awkwardly raised her hand and wiggled her engagement finger with a shrug and a smile.

Seth chuckled and shook his head. The trick. That was the 'trick' Aaron was playing on her. Seth cleared his throat before turning back to the press.

"Yes, Emily Rhodes and Aaron Shore have recently gotten engaged so I'm sure you'll all join me in congratulating them, but there will be no further comment on the matter. Let's keep the personal out of the politics people." Seth said as he closed his file and left the room.

He quickly caught up with Emily and pulled her in for a hug. "Congratulations"

"Thank you, I'm sorry you had to hear about it in a press conference." Emily said with a chuckle.

"It seems fitting that that's where I heard."

"I also can't believe you were willing to let Aaron trick me yesterday, not knowing that he was going to propose." Emily said as she shoved his shoulder.

"Hey, if you had have come to me asking for help, you know I would have" he said holding his hands up. "But congratulations again. Look after your arm, that ring looks like it weighs a tonne" he teased as he walked on.

* * *

That night, Emily lay in bed reading through a file when Aaron walked into the room and flopped down beside her.

"Well you look like a man who had to ring a bunch of family members" Emily teased.

"My family are talkers. All of them. We got engaged _yesterday_ and they're trying to tell me I'm behind on preparations." Aaron told her as he turned to lie on his back.

"They're probably right"

"I also had only intended on calling my mom, Esmerelda and Nadia, but somehow I ended up speaking to ten other people in the process."

"Big families will do that to you. If it's any consolation, my mother cried for a good 10 minutes before she got any words out, and the words that did come out of her mouth were 'I thought this would never happen for you' and 'I'm so happy for Aaron.'"

"I mean, can you really blame your mom for loving me more than you?" Aaron teased as Emily rolled her eyes.

"Now that everyone knows it's going to be crazy" Emily reminded him.

"I know… but I wouldn't have it any other way."

* * *

 **Don't forget to review… I've also to write a little bit for when Emily and Aaron have kids, but I can't settle on any names… so feel free to comment some suggestions, for boys and girls, in the reviews to help me out!**


	19. Past, Present, Future

**It's been a while since Aaron and Emily have had a fight…**

 **Enjoy:)**

* * *

 **Past, Present, Future**

* * *

"Do we have to go?"

"Yes"

"Aaronnnnn!"

"No whining, we're going."

"You suck"

Emily pouted as she clipped her hair back and put in her earrings. Tonight, was their high school reunion. Emily had hoped that their prestigious prep school would be too good for high school reunions in hotels but apparently, they weren't.

"There is nothing about high school I want to remember" Emily reasoned.

"Are you kidding? You met me in high school" Aaron reminded her.

Emily stared at Aaron for a moment; "… I'll say it again, there is _nothing_ about high school I want to remember."

"Ouch…"

"It's being organised by Melissa, Melissa hated me in high school, she's no doubt going to find some way to make me miserable tonight."

"She only hated you because she knew I had a thing for you"

"… considering we're engaged now, that really doesn't make me feel any better." Emily said as she lifted her purse and stormed into the living room.

Aaron sighed and was hot on her tail. "Emily, hold up…"

"Aaron I get that you had this wonderful time in high school. You were the quarterback, class president, valedictorian, everyone loved you! But that was not quite my experience. Girls hated me because they couldn't understand why you had a thing for the nerd."

Aaron ran his hands up and down Emily's arms as she ran her hand across her face. She was 31 years old, how was a high school reunion giving her anxiety?

"Look, we don't have to stay for long, I just want to see some of the football guys, that's it. Plus, Vivienne and Lenny and the guys will be there. Who cares what those people think? You're the White House Chief of Staff, you're crazy smart and you're smokin' hot, no one would dare think anything bad about you now."

Emily giggled as Aaron kissed her head and she walked to the cabinet to put a few things in her bag.

"Fine, I promise to put on my best smiling face… but if Melissa goes all 'Mean Girls' on me, I'm walking" she reasoned.

"And I will walk with you. Now come on, let's go" he said as he wrapped an arm around her waist and led her to the door.

* * *

Before long, Emily and Aaron had arrived at the Four Seasons Hotel in the centre of town. As Aaron handed the valet his car keys, Emily took a deep breath and began walking inside. She stopped when she reached the door to the room the reunion was being held in. There we a huge banner across the door welcoming them and as if Aaron knew exactly what Emily was thinking, he pulled her towards it.

"You are _not_ doing a runner." Aaron said.

"I mean it really wouldn't be that difficult… we could go for dinner instead!" Emily suggested.

"We've already had dinner"

"Aaron, you know two dinners is really not an issue for me." She said as she rolled her eyes. "And they rented out the nicest room for this thing? Clearly no expense was spared, there are more important things they could be devoting their time and money to, we should boycott."

"Emily…"

"Ok, ok, I'll stop… let's get this over with" Emily said as she took a deep breath and opened the doors.

She stopped in her treks when majority of the people in the hall stopped their conversations to look at her and Aaron.

"Is there something on my face?" Emily whispered to Aaron.

"They're probably just awestruck that the White House Chief of Staff just walked in…" Aaron teased as Emily batted him in the stomach.

"Oh my god!" the heard from across the room as Emily closed her eyes and took a deep breath, preparing herself for what was about to go down.

"Aaron Shore and Emily Rhodes arriving at our high school reunion together! How sweet…" Melissa said as she approached the pair, her fakest smile plastered across her face.

"What we we 5 years old?" Emily mumbled.

"How are you Melissa?" Aaron quickly asked to cover up Melissa hearing Emily.

"I'm so good, especially now that you're here!" she said with a laugh as she touched Aaron's arm. "All our old gang are just hanging out over here, so come say hi!" She said as she dragged Aaron across the room to the corner that held the footballers and cheerleaders. "Emily, I trust you'll find your crowd, try over in that corner!" she said, pointing to the far corner of the room, that held a bunch of people standing in silence, not talking to each other.

"They're the ones who didn't bring a date" she heard Lenny say behind her as she and Vivienne approached.

"I reckon someone's in denial that Emily Rhodes finally got her Aaron Shore." Vivienne added.

"Or she genuinely has no clue… one thing is for sure though… she hasn't changed a bit" Emily said as they turned and watched Melissa flirt with Aaron.

"I don't know if I would even be remotely pleasant to her." Lenny said as she scrunched up her face.

"It's for one night, I'd rather not start a fight with someone I didn't get on with in high school."

"Even if she's trying to get into your fiancé's pants again?" Lenny asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I would like to think that my fiancé would not open his pant to her" Emily justified. "What even happened between them in high school anyway?" Emily asked, never really wanting to know about Aaron's womanizing ways before he met her.

"All Warner said was that Aaron was a bit of a womanizer in his early school days and Melissa was one of his booty calls. She wanted more from him, but he just wasn't interested… especially when he met a certain Miss Rhodes." Vivienne told her.

"I had no impact on Aaron's love life in high school" Emily said with an eye roll.

"Are you kidding? Aaron was a serial dater in junior year and then as soon as he goes into senior year he's a changed man, completely unprovoked?" Lenny asked.

"…yeah" Emily said, not really convinced herself.

"Emily, you know he was into you" Vivienne stated.

"We both had dumb crushes, I didn't change his whole being…"

"Did it never register with you that he didn't date anyone in senior year? He was holding out hope for you, and you kept breaking his heart." Lenny said.

"He's the one who left—twice! Then he was an asshole to me at your wedding and then the fourth time, was a matter of national security— I did not break that boy's heart." Emily said with fire in her voice.

"I'm not so sure that's how he remembers it Em." Lenny told her as Emily turned to look at Aaron who was eyeing her quizzically, clearly seeing Emily was fired up about something.

Emily turned away from his gaze. "I need a drink…"

* * *

A short while later, Emily finally found the courage to walk over to Aaron and his friends. As soon as she arrived, the smirk on Melissa's face instantly fell.

"Hey…" she greeted cautiously as they all smiled at her. Everyone but Melissa.

"Hey Em" Aaron said as he wrapped an arm around her waist; "You ok?" he whispered in her ear.

"We'll talk later…" she mumbled back before turning back to the people in front of her. "How is everyone?"

"So good" Melissa immediately jumped in. "We haven't seen each other in so long, but it's like we've never been apart. We were just talking about our cheerleading days, we're not quite as flexible as we used to be. I'm sure you can relate Emily, your head was always stuck in a book."

"I don't know, I do Pilates, so I'd say I'm pretty flexible… Aaron would _definitely_ agree, right honey?" Emily said turning to Aaron who choked on his drink at her bold statement.

"Uh… I… yeah I mean…" he stumbled over his words as Melissa seethed at Emily's boldness.

"We were also just talking about how in junior year we went to Warner's family chalet in Aspen. We had some crazy times there… Aaron, do you remember when we were almost caught in the shed doing-"

"SO, Emily!" George said, cutting Melissa off before Emily smashed her glass, she was holding it that tight out of jealousy and annoyance at Melissa's antics. "It's awesome that you and Aaron are getting married."

"Thanks George, we're excited. Finding the time to actually plan the wedding is not proving too easy though with our jobs." Emily said, thankful that George had the sense to change the subject.

"Well you have Vivienne and Lenny on hand to help you out" Warner pointed out.

"And I will be eternally grateful for that." Emily said with a small smile as Aaron squeezed her waist.

"Yeah it did come as a shock to me when I saw on the news that you two were engaged" Melissa said.

"Oh really?" Emily pried, wanting to see where Melissa was going with this.

"Yeah it really did. It just never occurred to me that you would stop breaking Aaron's heart." Melissa said as Emily remained silent.

 _There it was again._ _She broke his heart? That is not how she remembered it. Was this how Aaron remembered their past? Why wasn't he saying anything?_

Emily gulped before smiling awkwardly, which Aaron immediately picked up on.

"I'm going to get some fresh air, it's really warm in here" Emily said as she set down her glass and made a beeline for the door.

Aaron looked at Warner and George and then to the other side of the room at Vivienne and Lenny, who all looked equally concerned, but all shrugged, not knowing what the issue could be.

"Excuse me" Aaron said as he too set his drink down and went after her.

"Well someone needs to learn how to take a joke…" Melissa said with a smirk.

"Give it up Melissa." Lenny said upon approach. "You should have realised that from the moment Aaron Shore laid eyes on Emily Rhodes, there were no other girls that existed in his mind."

"So if your ice cold soul is ever interested in what love looks like… that's it right there." Vivienne said as she dragged Warner away, with Lenny and George following quickly behind.

* * *

Aaron quickly caught up with Emily in the foyer of the hotel.

"Emily, wait up" he said as he spun her around and saw that she was upset, and a little angry. "What is going on?"

"Did I break your heart?"

"What?"

"It's a simple question Aaron, did I break your heart? Cause that is not how I remember our past." she asked again, with her arms folded.

"How do you remember it?"

"I remember you leaving, twice, I remember you being an asshole, I remember you being under federal investigation, but I don't remember ever breaking your heart."

"Yeah that all happened but you were never open to me Emily, our relationship didn't have so many false starts all because of me. You were horrible to me in high school, you never gave me the time of day. In college, I pretended to be your fake boyfriend and you still refused to take the hint, I will take the blame for the whole minor leaguer thing, but I won't take the blame for the federal investigation and the months of radio silence. I tried to make things right with you when I found you playing the piano, but you shot me down, _yet again_ … so yeah, Emily, I guess you did keep breaking my heart. You're not the only one in this relationship." Aaron responded, feeling fired up himself.

Emily scoffed; "are you seriously mad at me right now?"

"I just don't understand why you would put all the blame on me!"

"I'm not putting the blame on you Aaron! I know that timing was never on our side, but I never intentionally set out to break your heart, I'm not a monster! And why does everyone think that I am?! This is the first time I am hearing anything about this, how could you not tell me this?"

"Cause I thought it was kinda obvious, but clearly not."

"This shouldn't even matter!"

"Our past matters Emily"

"Our past that has clearly all been a lie to me."

"Why are we even fighting about this right now?!" Aaron said as he ran a hand across his face.

"Cause I don't want you to think that I didn't love you!" Emily shouted as Aaron remained silent at her declaration.

 _She loved him. Through everything, she loved him._

"I know you think I hated you in high school and college and after Vivienne and Warner's wedding but it's not true. _I loved you through all of it._ Any time I felt you slipping away from me, my heart _broke_. Sometimes… sometimes I just didn't know how to deal with that and I'm sorry for hurting you… but I'm no monster. I'm just a girl who loved too much."

Emily finished and looked down at her feet, defeated.

Aaron sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to say. He wanted to take her in his arms, but he felt her recoil and was afraid she would push him away.

Emily wiped away the tears that were escaping as she looked up at him.

"I'm going to go" she said as she turned, and Aaron realised in that moment that he could never let her walk away from him like this.

"Emily" he said as he quickly walked towards her, turned her around and pulled her into his embrace, and she allowed her tears to escape. "I've walked away from you too many times and I swore I would never let you do the same. We _both_ caused each other a lot of unnecessary pain because we're stubborn and full of pride… but we _loved,_ and that love is bigger than any it. Our past is crazy, but it is what formed our future, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm never letting you go and you are never getting rid of me. This is it. This is our time. Our heart break is in the past, let's focus on our present."

"I love you" Emily said as Aaron pulled her in for a searing kiss.

As they pulled away, the rested their foreheads against each other's and Emily chuckled.

"What?" Aaron asked.

"We haven't fought like this in so long… does that mean the honeymoon phase is over?"

"Oh, it's only getting started."

* * *

 **Don't forget to review!**


	20. Astounding Positivity

**Hi everyone! Thank you all for your reviews. You're the best!**

 **I am loving the stories people have written fixing what happened in 2x06. I'm hoping the writers have the sense to fix it too… fingers crossed!**

 **This chapter is loosely based on 2x06. Emily's dad comes to visit and he's not a jerk called Daniel.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Astounding Positivity**

* * *

"Emily" Aaron said as he caught up with Emily in the corridor. She was walking fast and was glued to her phone, barely acknowledging him. "Where'd you go this morning?" Aaron asked. He had woken up and Emily was nowhere to be found.

"Sorry I couldn't sleep so I just got up and went for a run, had a decent breakfast." Emily explained.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah. Fine." Emily said vaguely, and Aaron wasn't buying it.

"I got you a coffee" he said, holding out the cup for her.

"Oh I've stopped drinking coffee"

Aaron furrowed his eyebrows at her; "… since when?" Emily loved coffee. Why would she stop drinking it?

"Since this morning. Just trying to break a bad habit" she said, finishing her sentence with a yawn.

"Sounds like you might need it…"

"I'm fine, Aaron." She said sharply as her phone buzzed. "I gotta go" she said as she left a confused Aaron standing in her wake.

They had an explosive fight last night at the reunion, but they made up. Or so Aaron thought. Was there still something more to be said?

* * *

"Dad" Emily greeted at the door of the West Wing when she saw her father, allowing herself to smile for the first time that day.

Emily was close with her dad. He always doted upon his only little girl, and right now, he was just the person she needed to see.

"Em" he said with a sincere smile as he pulled her in for a hug. "Let me look at you" he said as he pulled away from her, but still holding her hands. "Radiant as always"

Emily giggled and playfully rolled her eyes. "I'm glad you're here. We're kind of dealing with a bit of a crisis today so if I run off and leave you at a moment's notice don't be alarmed."

"Oh don't mind me, you know I'll keep myself busy, all while beaming with pride at my little girl. The White House Chief of Staff." John said with a wide grin.

"You're so embarrassing"

"I wouldn't be a dad if I wasn't." He said as Emily began to lead them through the corridors.

"I'm sorry I haven't been home in a while—" Emily began but her father cut her off.

"There is no need for an apology. I imagine running the country takes up a lot of your time. Though not all of your time considering you just got engaged."

Emily smiled lightly while looking down at her feet. "Mom has booked us to come down to you next month for a celebration. Honestly, we haven't really been able to celebrate, things have been crazy."

"Well there's no doubt in my mind that your mother will have prepared a celebration to end all celebrations. Where is Aaron anyway?" John said, being particularly fond of his future son in law. All of Emily's family were, even her ridiculously over protective brothers. They hated any boy Emily introduced to them, except Aaron. They were even willing to look past the time he pretended to be her boyfriend for Sam's wedding.

"Oh, he's around—" Emily began and as if by magic, her fiancé walked around the corner.

"Hey Em, do you have the—Mr Rhodes." Aaron said, smiling and shaking John's hand when he realised who Emily was with. "I didn't realise you were coming by today"

"I just thought I'd come and see my little girl in action. How are you Aaron?"

"I'm good, busy but good. How long are you in town for?" Aaron asked.

"Just till tomorrow, it's a flying visit, I was at a conference yesterday." John explained.

"Well, you'll be staying with us tonight, yes?" Aaron insisted.

"I wouldn't have him stay anywhere else" Emily confirmed.

"Great. I have to get going but it was good to see you, I'll see you later… Emily" he said, nodding awkwardly towards his fiancée, who smiled awkwardly back.

Aaron walked on as Emily and John made their way into Emily's office.

"What was that?" John asked as he stood behind Emily who rifled through some papers on her desk.

"What was what?"

"You could not have wanted to get away from each other fast enough."

Emily sighed and turned to look at her dad; "We had a fight the other night, a big one, and we did make up but… things just haven't felt right ever since… and it's totally my fault."

"What happened?"

"We fought about how we always went wrong over the past 15 years, he blamed me, I blamed him, it all came full circle when we both took blame and… I was ready to walk away, but he stopped me."

"Well you made things right, what's the problem?" John asked.

"Over the 15 years that I've known him, walking away from each other has been characteristic of our relationship but this time… He didn't let me walk away." Emily stated.

John smiled lightly; "Sounds like this is the real deal"

"It is. I know in my heart it is… and while he didn't let me walk away, I can't get rid of this nagging feeling in the back of my head that we are just doomed to fail. We could never get it right, we are prone to hurting one another, usually for the dumbest reasons, reasons that never even clicked with me until the other night. Why is this time any different?" Emily quietly confessed.

"Because you've grown up… and the fact that he didn't let you walk away shows that. You were kids when you met. You had so much of your life to work out, so many things yet to fall into place. Now you're here, in this big old house, with one of the most important jobs in the world, and a man, who is completely devoted to you, by your side."

"Seems too good to be true" Emily said with a light scoff.

John walked towards her and rested his hands on his daughter's arms; "Life doesn't have to be hard all the time. Take the good things when they come, cherish them, relish in them. He didn't let you walk away Emily… he's always going to do right by you and I wouldn't stand here and let my little girl get married to someone I didn't think was right for her."

Emily quirked an eyebrow; "You do realise that this is the Aaron who lied to you about being my boyfriend when we were in college right?"

"Oh, I know. The fact that he was willing to lie for you says a lot about him"

"My God you are a weirdly positive man." Emily said with a chuckle.

"It's something I like to pride myself on." He said with a wink. "Now come on. Let's get going with this grand tour."

* * *

That evening, Emily made her way home with just her father as Aaron was held behind with work. She made dinner for her dad, video called her mom and retired to bed at a more reasonable hour than usual, but she couldn't sleep. She had gotten so used to Aaron being beside her that she hated the emptiness.

Emily continued to lay on her side with her eyes closed as she felt the bed dip beside her, and Aaron rest on his side beside her.

"I like your dad" Aaron said after a moment of silence. Emily opened one eye. She felt butterflies in her stomach over the fact that he could tell she was still awake. She laughed at herself for loving the simplest of things. But then it occurred to her, that's what it's all about.

"He likes you too"

"I just met him in the kitchen …" Aaron began to explain.

 _Aaron walked through the front door of the house and dropped his stuff at the door. He was too tired to deal with it right now. He saw a light on in the kitchen and decided that he would investigate, loosening his tie in the process._

 _He walked in and saw John rummaging through the cupboards._

" _Aaron, hey" John greeted as he continued to lift ingredients out._

" _Hey… you ok?" he asked as he sat at the island._

" _Aaron… do you love my daughter?" John asked as he turned to face a worried Aaron._

" _Yeah, more than anything" Aaron answered._

" _Well, anyone who really loves Emily, will learn to make pancakes the exact way she likes them" John said with a smirk. "So, I'm going to teach you right now"_

 _Aaron chuckled; "Emily normally doesn't let me near the stove, which is completely ironic considering she can't cook either. Pancakes are as far as she goes."_

 _"It's the only thing she cared to perfect over the years cause they are her favourite food." John said with an endearing smile as he beat the ingredients together. "I uh… I noticed that things we a bit off between you two earlier."_

 _"Yeah so did I…" Aaron replied honestly. "I wasn't sure why but I'm guessing it's because of the fight we had yesterday. I feel like it hasn't been completely put to rest."_

" _When Emily's afraid, or sad, she pulls away from the people she cares about the most because she's thinks somehow in the long run it will be easier for her… she's scared right now Aaron. She loves you so much and she's scared that you can't make it work this time." John explained as Aaron looked down at his hands._

" _I'm scared too sir… I don't ever want to let her down. I just want her to be happy and after all these false starts… I swore to myself I would never let her go without a fight. She is everything… she's the best thing since sliced bread." Aaron joked as John chuckled. "You have a very special daughter sir and I can't quite believe she's mine."_

" _I don't think she quite believes she's yours either. I like you Aaron. From the moment I met you all those years ago, I liked you and I know you will do right by her. You're going to be ok" John assured him as Aaron responded with a nod._

Aaron chuckled as he prepared to tell Emily what happened; "he was making sure we had ingredients for pancakes in the morning, said he would teach me how to make them the way you like." Aaron explained. "Every dad I have ever met has hated me. Given me the third degree… but not your dad. You have a cool dad."

"He knows I'm a big girl and good judge of character, so he knows I wouldn't get married to just anyone… he knows you're the real deal." Emily replied.

"The real deal huh?" Aaron said with a smirk.

"Uh huh"

"He mentioned that you guys had a little chat earlier…" Aaron said with a gulp.

"My god he is a blabber mouth"

"He's just trying to help"

"I know, I know…" Emily said as she rolled over to face him; "and he gave me some very reasonable advice. I'm sorry if you thought I was doubting us. It wasn't fair. I know how much I love you and I know how much I want to be with you but… our past freaks me out and I don't think I could bare losing you again."

"You're not going to lose me. Like you said, this is the real deal. We've grown up, our time is now… and our time is forever."

"You always know the right thing to say"

"Your dad fed me that last bit. His positivity is quite frankly astounding"

"That's what I said!" Emily said with a laugh as she moved closer to Aaron to rest on his chest. "I'm sorry that you couldn't have this kind of relationship with your dad"

"It's ok… cause I'm gaining a pretty awesome father in law." Aaron replied, as they both were able to close their eyes and drift off into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

 **Don't forget to review!**


	21. Amada Shore- Part 1

**Time to meet Aaron's mom and see Emily's family again. If you want more insight into the Rhodes', check out chapter two of 'The Minor Leaguer' if you haven't already done so (or even just for a refresher)**

 **I've decided to split this next part into two cause the chapter was getting too long, so I'll hopefully have the second part up tomorrow!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Amada Shore- Part 1**

* * *

Emily lay wide awake in the bedroom of her childhood home, staring at the ceiling. After work one Friday, she and Aaron had made the drive down for the engagement party her mom had planned for them that weekend. While she was looking forward to having all her family and friends together, Emily was nervous.

She knew what her family was like. She knew they would have questions about the wedding. Questions she wouldn't have been able to answer because she hadn't had a spare minute to even think about the wedding. She knew they would want to throw their two cents in on organising it, and she wasn't prepared to turn around and tell them no and to let her and Aaron organise it themselves.

But most crucially, this weekend was the first time Emily would meet Aaron's mother Amada. She didn't really know what to expect. Aaron had told her that she was a strict and stern lady who always cared more about making sure AJ succeed in the oil business than he did in politics. Yet, at the same time, she was fiercely protective of her boys. She expected the best from them and Emily had an assumption that in Amada Shore's mind, no one was good enough for her boys.

She wanted Aaron's family to like her, and while she had gotten on very well with his extended family, AJ was another story and she feared it would be the same story with Amada, considering how devoted she was to her son.

"Aaron?" Emily whispered, hoping that he was awake.

He merely grumbled in response.

"Wake up" she said as she smacked him on the arm.

Aaron moaned as he rolled onto his back and looked at the clock; "Emily. It's 3am. What could you possibly need to talk about at 3am?"

"Why does your mom love AJ more than you?"

"She doesn't love AJ more than me" he mumbled as he ran a hand down his face to wake himself up.

"Well then why was she more concerned with him succeeding in life than you?"

Aaron thought for a moment in silence. "I don't know. I always just assumed she thought he could go further than me. That he had more of a future."

"You never asked her?" Emily asked as she propped her head up on her elbow.

"I didn't want to start something that would just drive a wedge further between us." Aaron responded. "Why are you asking about this?"

"I was just thinking about meeting her tomorrow... or today" Emily said, remembering that it was 3am. "I just want her to look at you and be proud of the choices you've made. I don't understand how she couldn't be."

"Em, my mom may not be the most supportive woman in the world but we're not strangers and I know she cares… she just doesn't necessarily show it in the way that your mom would." Aaron explained.

"I know, I know… as long as you're ok, that's all that matters." Emily affirmed.

"I am more than ok" Aaron assured her. "Now, go to sleep, we have a big day of celebrating tomorrow." Aaron said as he pulled her close to him.

"This is going to be the longest day of our lives, isn't it?" Emily said as she scrunched up her nose.

Aaron kissed her cheek before whispering; "Absolutely."

* * *

The following morning, Emily and Aaron took their time with getting ready, wanting to delay the crazy for as long as possible. Eventually they made their way downstairs and were surprised to find Lenny, George, Vivienne, Warner and Jamie sitting in the kitchen with Emily's mom.

"Hey…" Emily greeted; "You're all here. We weren't expecting you till this afternoon"

"Your mom insisted we come down early to help set up for the party, so we came down last night. Your grandparents actually paid for an extra night in our hotel!" Vivienne informed her.

"Oh, the joys of old money" Aaron said as he picked up Jamie who was charging at him and walked towards the fridge.

"You ok, Em? You look nervous" Lenny asked as she drank her coffee.

"I'm just a little nervous about meeting Aaron's mom, that's all" Emily told her.

"Honey," Karen began, "You are Emily Rhodes and it is impossible not to love you." She said, handing her a glass of orange juice.

"You have to say that, you're my mom" Emily said with a grimace.

"I don't have to say anything" Karen said holding up her hands. "But you have a few hours till she gets here, right Aaron?"

"Yeah, she doesn't get in till around 12, I said I'd pick her and AJ up from the airport then." Aaron confirmed.

"So, here's something else to take your mind off it!" Karen said as she lifted a book from the counter, and Emily's eyes widened.

"Oh my god…" she mumbled as she took the book from Karen.

"What is it?" George asked as the 5 other adults crowded around Emily to see what Karen had given her.

"It's my old scrapbook, I made it when I was like 8…" Emily explained as she turned and held the book to her chest. "But you're not allowed to see it"

"Why not?!" Warner protested.

"Because it's not just any scrapbook… it's… a wedding scrapbook. Like any normal girl my age, I would have fantasised about my wedding and I put little bits and pieces together in this book." Emily explained.

"That is adorable" Vivienne said as she smiled and held a hand on her heart.

"Is that's going to be your inspiration for planning your wedding?" Lenny asked.

"I think we need to bear in mind that I was 8 in 1994, so it's a little out of the times now and therefore terribly embarrassing so I don't think this will be my inspiration" Emily said handing her book back to Karen.

Karen furrowed her eyebrows; "Well then where will you find your inspiration?"

"Did you seriously think this book would give me it mom?"

"No… but it would be a good place to start! You've been engaged for over a month now Emily and you haven't planned anything!" Karen protested.

"We've been a little bit busy running the country mom" Emily reminded her.

"Well then you should let us take the reins!" Karen suggested.

"…what?" Emily asked with a gulp.

"You know party planning is my speciality and I have some wonderful ideas and our grandma is also on board with helping, so you should let us!" Karen said happily, pleading with her daughter.

"Mom, I kinda want to plan my own wedding" Emily told her softly.

"Oh, Emily, you're my only daughter, the boys didn't let me anywhere near their weddings, you have to let me be a big part of this!" Karen said as she rummaged through her bag and lifted out a notebook. "Let me just show you what I've come up with so far…" she began as she put on her glasses and flipped through her notebook.

Emily looked over at Aaron who was too busy picking at some left over desserts from last night with Jamie to help her out with her mom. She then turned to Vivienne and Lenny and gave them pleading glances.

"It is way too early in the morning for this…" Lenny said as she sat at the island.

"I think I'm going to need to start drinking coffee again at this rate…" Emily mumbled.

"You work at the White House and this is what is turning you back to coffee?" George asked.

"Sit down George." Lenny scolded as she handed Emily a cup of coffee.

"AH, yes! Here it is" Karen said, as they all turned to look at her; "I'm thinking we could have it in the White House, that beautiful ballroom would just be perfect for the reception. I've made a list of guests from our side of the family and Aaron gave me a list of who he would need to invite from his side of the family…"

"Did he now?" Emily said, folding her arms and raising her eyebrows at Aaron who froze and set down the fork he was using to eat the desserts. He gulped, realising that there probably wasn't anything he could do to help himself in this situation. Karen asked, and Aaron and Karen got on like a house on fire and he didn't want to disappoint her, despite knowing how Emily felt about her family's impending input into her wedding.

"Yes, he did, I've also factored in how many friends I think you'll end up inviting, so it should be around 250-300 people…"

"250-300 people?!" Emily exclaimed; "Mom, I don't think I know that many people."

"You know more people than you think Emily… but that number can be up for negotiation. Now I've printed off some pictures of dresses you would just look so beautiful in. Princess ballgown style I'm thinking and then of course _at least_ a 5-tier cake…" Karen rambled as Emily's eyes widened at the extravagance of what her mother wanted for her wedding.

"OK" Lenny said confidently, as Karen stopped speaking; "It is super early, and this weekend is about the engagement, and getting Emily through meeting her future mother in law, so let's save this wedding stuff for another date…"

"You're right, you're right, I should be preparing for Aaron's mom too." Karen said as she put her book away. "But I am so excited to plan this with you sweetie, it's going to be the wedding of the year!"

Karen left the kitchen a few moments later in search of her husband as Emily rested her hands on the island counter.

"Why did I think it would be a good idea to get married?" Emily said as her friends rambled around for an excuse.

Aaron walked over to her and ran his hands up her arms; "Don't worry about any of that right now."

"I don't want any of that Aaron, but I also don't want to tell my mom no, she's clearly been dreaming about this for years!" Emily moaned.

"We'll work it out. For now, let's just focus on getting through the day."

"Aaron!" they heard a voice shout from the hallway.

"That sounds like Sam, I didn't realise he was here." Emily said as the 6 of them left the kitchen and walked into the large hallway.

"Hey Sam" Emily greeted as she hugged her brother.

"Hey, there's someone here to see you Aaron…" Sam said as he moved away from the door to reveal a small lady with her arms crossed and a stern look on her face.

 _"Mom?"_ Aaron asked as the eyes of the 5 other adults widened.

"Mi amor" Amada said as Aaron hugged and kissed his mother.

"I uh… I didn't think you got here until 12" Aaron said. "I would have picked you up"

"AJ got us an earlier flight, I just couldn't wait to see mi hermoso hijo." Amada said as she placed palm on her son's cheek.

"Amada Shore in the flesh…" George said quietly to the others.

"You've never met Aaron's mom?" Emily asked, assuming that in all the years they had been friends, they would have encountered Amada.

"Nope." Warner said. "We've known Aaron for 18 years and his mother has been nothing more than a myth."

"She's just as scary as I imagined…" George said as they all took in the appearance of the lady in front of them.

She has tight curls, evidently where Aaron got his from, that rested on her shoulders. She was small and skinny and had not cracked a smile since she walked through the door.

Emily gulped. After all this time, she did not feel in the slightest bit ready to meet Aaron's mom.

"Mom, this is Warner and George" Aaron started as they were closest to him.

"Ah, the famous Warner and George. The two boys always getting my son into trouble…" Amada said as Warner and George took their turn to gulp.

"I think it was more Aaron _keeping_ us from getting into trouble" George said, trying to muster the most charming smile he could.

"Well… thank you for taking my son under your wing all those years ago." Amada said sincerely, as even Aaron was shocked by her words. "The way he talks about you… it makes me glad he found friends like you."

Aaron rolled his eyes as Warner and George proudly stood up straighter and soaked up the approval of Amada.

"Mom, this Vivienne and Lenny, we also went to school together." Aaron introduced.

"It's lovely to meet you" Vivienne said with a bright smile.

"We've heard so much about you" Lenny added.

"All good things I hope" Amada responded, before turning to look at Emily, who was scared to speak or move. She was normally confident with new people. It hadn't always been the case with her, but she had grown up and grown into herself. Right now, she felt like she was that shy 16-year-old again, not knowing what to say or do.

"And this…" Aaron began; "is my fiancée, Emily."

Amada looked Emily up and down, her face giving away nothing of how she felt about her in that moment. Emily looked at Aaron for a sign in what to do, but he was as dumbfounded as she was.

"Mrs Shore—" Emily began, but Amada interrupted her.

"Call me Amada, Mrs Shore makes me sound old." Amada insisted. "Aaron, can you please show me to the kitchen, I need a drink."

"Uh… sure" Aaron said as he led his mother to the back of the house, shrugging at a stunned Emily on the way past.

Was that it? Was that all she was going to say to her future daughter in law?

The four other adults looked as confused as Emily, and didn't really know what to say in that moment. They were broken from their silence when the front door flung open and AJ appeared with two suitcases.

"So, where are our rooms?" he asked, without greeting anyone.

Emily groaned and closed her eyes before turning and bounding up the stairs. This weekend had started terribly, and she feared what was to come.

* * *

 **So many questions… why did Amada show more interest in AJ than Aaron growing up? Why is she being indifferent to Emily? What is Emily going to about Karen trying to take over her wedding!**

 **All will be revealed in part 2…**


	22. Amada Shore- Part 2

**Amada Shore- Part 2**

* * *

"Mom—"

"What a quaint little kitchen. Much nicer than anything we ever had back in Texas."

"Mom—"

"And a nice back yard, I loved the double doors at the front of the house, I might see about getting some fitted in our house—"

"Mom!" Aaron shouted, finally silencing Amada, who raised her eyebrows at her son. "Can I speak now without you interrupting me?"

"Only if you think twice about using that tone with me." Amada challenged back as Aaron sighed and shook his head.

"Why were you rude to Emily?"

"I wasn't rude to her"

"Yes you were! You just stared at her and didn't even let her speak to you. We spoke the other day, you said you were looking forward to meeting her." Aaron replied.

"I was… and then I spoke to AJ." Amada said sternly.

"… AJ." Aaron said with gritted teeth. "Dammit, I should have _known_ he would try and screw this up for me."

"Don't speak so lowly of your brother, he has always protected you—"

"He is not protecting me mom! He's trying to get one over on me because of a stupid fight, because someone had to balls to stand up to him and put him in his place! Emily is not the bad guy in this scenario." Aaron defended. "What did he say about her?"

"Well for starters she took your job." Amada began.

"She did not take my job, that was an issue of national security and it was resolved and dealt with and I am back in the White House." Aaron informed her.

"That night at dinner, AJ said she sat and poisoned you against him!"

"No… AJ sat and attacked myself and Emily all night. Criticising our jobs, our relationship when he doesn't know shit!"

"Watch your mouth." Amada scolded.

"All Emily did was remind AJ what family really is and after that night… he is _not_ my family. How could you listen to a word he had to say before even meeting Emily? I am so sick of you defending AJ like this. Why do you do it?" Aaron said, completely defeated by feeling like second best to his mother. "Why do you protect him, why do you never show me the same support you show him?"

"Because he is just like your father!" Amada shouted, silencing Aaron. "Ever since he was a little boy all I ever saw was your father in him. He was impulsive, he had a temper, he was selfish… and I couldn't bare for my boy to turn out like _him._ I mother him to death in the hope that I can find a way to make him a better man. To make him more like _you._ I know I didn't always support you the way I supported AJ… but there came a point where it seemed like you didn't need me. You were finding your own way in life and… I was so proud of you Aaron. I still am. You've climbed to the top of the ladder and you've got everything I ever dreamed you would have. You're a better man than your father could ever dream of being."

Aaron looked at his mother and his heart broke when he saw the pain in her eyes. AJ worried and frustrated her more than he ever knew and for the first time in 30 years—he finally understood Amada Shore.

"I'm sorry for what he did to you mom and I'm sorry that AJ is like him… he needs to realise that before he, or you, can do anything about it and right now… he doesn't want to admit that." Aaron said, and Amada nodded before looking down at her feet, knowing that if she was to ever make AJ see the error of ways, he needed to see it in himself first.

"I'm sorry mi amor."

"Why did you believe him when he said all that stuff about Emily?" Aaron asked.

"Maybe it's what I wanted to hear because… then I wouldn't have to admit that my little Aaron had found someone that made his heart whole. That he had grown up and I had let him go with not nearly enough love from his mother." Amada confessed.

"She does make my heart whole… he makes everything whole and I know if you just got to know her you would love her too." Aaron said softly.

"Tell me about her. What is it about her that you love?" Amada asked as Aaron said on one of the stools at the island.

He smiled softly, not really know where to start. "She has worn this charm bracelet every day since she was 8 years old and she would fiddle with it when she's walking or just sitting around and every time she moves to play with a new charm… she smiles so brightly, as she remembers the memories that come with the charm." Aaron said as Amada sat beside him, eagerly listening to what her son had to say. "She has the most ridiculous coffee order in the world. Double Americano, three pumps of vanilla, one pump of caramel and she always picks the chocolate chips out of my muffin before giving it to me. Sometimes there will be days where we won't see each other… except every day, she'll pull me into her office and we'll just have 5 minutes of us, sometimes we don't even say anything, but it still means everything. We play the most ridiculous tricks on each other and when I got shot, she threatened to take the next bullet for me if I pulled a stunt like that again…" Aaron said chuckling at her boldness. "It's the little things that make me realise that there's no one else for me but her. She reminded me what family is and she loved me at my worst… she loved me through _all_ the crap it took us to get here. I'm crazy about her mom… and I hope you will be too."

Amada nodded as she rested her hand upon her son's; "it sounds like you have found someone very special mi amor… and I know she'll be special to me too."

Aaron pulled his mother in for a hug, finally feeling like he had broken down the walls of Amada Shore.

* * *

Emily stood in front of the shelf in the living room, sorting through the books. When she was panicked or worried, she tended to sort and organise and clean. It was the only thing she could think to do right now while Aaron spoke with his mother and the others kept AJ out of her way.

"Why do you love my son?" she suddenly heard a voice say at the door, as she turned around and came face to face with Amada.

"I'm sorry?" Emily asked, taken aback by her abrupt question.

"What is it about my son that makes you love him?" Amada elaborated.

Emily smiled softly as she rested on the arm of the chair. "It's the little things that make me know he's the one for me. He learnt how to make blueberry pancakes just the way I like them even though he is hopeless in the kitchen. Sometimes in the morning he would be gone before I would wake up, but I would go downstairs, and he would always have a cup of coffee waiting for me. Every time something significant happens to us or we go someplace new he would buy me a charm for my bracelet and he watches me as I play with it and smiles with me when he sees me reminiscing. In college he pretended to be my boyfriend to get my parents off my back and he left an important dinner to make sure I was ok one night. He got rid of his favourite chair because I hated it so much and… he played a trick on me before he proposed which I know sounds dumb but… it was perfect. We've had a lot of false starts over the past 15 years, but he never gave on us. He never gave up on _me._ We don't always get it right, me especially but… I am _crazy_ about your son and I know I am going to love him for the rest of my life." Emily said as her eyes watered at just the thought of how much she loved him.

Amada walked towards Emily and pulled her in for a hug. At first, she was taken by surprise, but she soon relaxed and hugged Amada back.

"My son is very lucky to have you." Amada said quietly into her ear as Emily smiled widely and let out a breath of relief.

* * *

That evening, Emily and Aaron and their immediate family and close friends were all gathered round the table on the back porch having dinner before all the other guests arrived for after dinner drinks.

Karen had decorated the porch beautifully with fairy lights, flowers and candles while Emily's grandmother had made them their dinner.

Emily and Aaron sat at the top of the table and while Aaron conversed with Emily's brother, Emily looked down the table at the most important people in her life. Every scenario was making her smile. From Vivienne and Warner giggling about something with Jamie, to her brothers talking with their dad. The scene before her that made her smile the most, was how well Karen and Amada were getting on. They were deep in conversation and Emily knew that it had something to do with the wedding.

Emily turned to Aaron and rested her hand on his shoulder; "Your mom looks really happy" she said to him as Aaron looked down the table and smiled at his mom.

"She does, doesn't she? We had a pretty big break through today." Aaron said as he smiled softly.

"I'm glad."

"I just hate what my dad did to her. I hate that she has to deal with his personality in AJ and I hate that she has to look at our faces and see his." Aaron confessed.

"Your mom is so strong, and I know that all over that is overcome by the love she has for you two… do you ever think you'd want to see your dad again? Just to ask him why he left?"

"The only reason I would want to see him, would be to show him the life I made for myself without him. To show him that mom can still sit around the table with us like this and be happy… he doesn't deserve anything else from us." Aaron said as he clenched his jaw.

Emily rested her chin on Aaron's shoulder as she played with the hair on the nape of his neck. "You don't need him Aaron… you have a family right here who loves you."

"I know" he said as he turned and kissed her head.

"You know, your mom asked me earlier why I loved you." Emily told him.

"Oh really? She also asked me why I loved you." Aaron informed her.

"Just making sure our answers line up huh?" Emily said with a giggle.

"She likes you" Aaron said surely.

"I like her too… next person to try and win over is AJ." Emily said as they looked down the table to see Lenny trying to avoid talking to AJ at all costs. "We owe Lenny big time for sitting beside him tonight."

"Oh yeah… though he hasn't caused any huge dramas—"

"So, Emily!" they heard AJ shout from the other end of the table.

"Spoke too soon…" Aaron mumbled as he sat back in his chair.

"AJ?" Emily responded.

"Karen was showing me her wedding book earlier. So exciting that you're letting her plan it for you!" AJ said with a smirk, knowing too well that Emily had not told Karen this.

Emily took a deep breath and tried to answer in the most diplomatic way possible. "We're planning it together."

"But you're so busy with work, surely you wouldn't mind if your mom planned it, I know she would make it a fantastic wedding." AJ added.

Lenny groaned, clearly having had enough of AJ already. She grabbed him by the ear and dragged him away from the table; "Stop being a little shit stirrer, Shore."

"Ow! What the hell?!" AJ said as Lenny dragged him inside before he made things any more difficult for Emily.

"It's ok, Em." Karen said with a soft smile. "I know you want to plan everything yourself, it's not a big deal."

"No, mom" Emily said with a sigh, hoping she wouldn't regret this. "I would love your help."

"Oh my gosh, thank you honey! You won't regret this at all!" Karen said as she reached beneath her chair and lifted out her book.

"But…" Emily said as soon as she saw the book; "That doesn't mean we start planning right now… and there will be few ground rules."

"Rules? What kind of rules?"

"I don't want a big wedding mom. I just want my closest friends and family. I know the boys had huge weddings but… I promise it is possible to have a nice wedding on a smaller scale." Emily told her softly.

"Ok… that seems fair. I promise to keep my cool mom head on!" Karen said happily as Emily and her brothers scrunched up their noses and protested with various choruses of "Yeah not possible" and "good one mom"

When the squabbling about Karen's status as a 'cool mom' had died down and Lenny came back outside with a red faced AJ on her tail, Emily's dad stood up and raised his glass.

"I think it's about time we raised a toast to the happy couple." He said as everyone around the table raised their glasses. "Love is rare and in Washington, it's particularly hard to find. Yet these two managed to find each other and managed to fall into an enviable love. They bring out the best in each other, and they have the most outrageous fights…;" John joked as everyone joined in for choruses of "Yeah" and "don't we know it;", gaining humorous eye rolls from both Emily and Aaron. "But their love is like no other and I couldn't be prouder to see them grow as a couple more and more everyday as they move into the exciting part of their future together. So, congratulations on your engagement and I wish you a life time of happiness. To Emily and Aaron!"

As John finished everyone joined in and clinked their glasses while Aaron gave Emily a soft and sweet kiss.

"I love you" Emily whispered as Aaron smiled softly back at her.

"I love you too."

* * *

 **Don't forget to review!**


	23. A Little Soul

**A Little Soul**

* * *

A little over a month had passed since Aaron and Emily's engagement party and things were going well. Emily was thankful that she agreed to let her mom help with the planning of the wedding as it took a lot of the pressure off her. They had planned the big day for the coming Spring and they were incredibly excited.

In more recent news, Lenny had received a job the West Wing, working alongside Kendra Daynes in the legal department. Emily loved nothing more than working with her best friend, and was glad to have an extra shoulder to lean on when things were getting a little too much.

Christmas was fast approaching, and Emily quickly walked through the corridors, avoiding men carrying decorations like she was walking through an assault course. She quickly moved into her office, closed the door, sat at her desk, put her head on the table and closed her eyes. She knew that if she kept her eyes closed for longer than a few seconds, she could fall asleep. Just as she was about to wake herself up, Seth and Lenny walked into her office and eyed her quizzically.

"You look terrible" Seth said off handily as Lenny shot him a glare.

"Seth, you can't just say that to someone." Lenny warned through her teeth.

"It's fine, he's right, I look about as terrible as I feel." Emily said as she lifted her head and rested it in her hand.

"You do look a little pale" Lenny said as she handed her friend a bottle of water which she gratefully accepted. "Have you been sleeping ok?"

"No, not really. Aaron has been stuck at the office every night for the last week and I've gotten so used to having him beside me that I can't sleep without him now." Emily confessed.

Aaron had been completely swamped at work and had ended up falling asleep every night on his sofa for a few hours. By the time he managed to make the journey home to take a shower, Emily was already on her way out the door.

"Oh ok, so you miss the sex, that's totally normal Em, though I don't know if I would feel sick over it..." Lenny said.

"Lenny!" Emily exclaimed.

"Sorry, but we all know it's true." Lenny said holding up her hands.

"Don't listen to her" Seth said as Lenny rolled her eyes. "You don't get much sleep as chief of staff anyway, are you sure you don't have a bug or something?"

"I have been sick a few times and I'm super clammy, it's kinda disgusting." Emily said as she scrunched up her nose. "And good, Seth, I can smell your coffee from here, it's turning my stomach, get out" Emily said as Seth looked down at his cup before furrowing his eyebrows and walking out the door.

"I think you should go home" Lenny said as she folded her arms, not prepared to take no for an answer. "You're in no state to do your job."

"I never get sick, Lenny! This is too weird, there's something—" Emily froze. "Oh my god" she whispered as a look of shock and realisation covered her face.

"What?" Lenny said, dropping her arms and walking closer towards Emily in concern.

"Len… I need you to do something for me… and you can't tell a soul."

"Ok… what do you need?"

* * *

Emily kept taking deep breaths as she walked through the West Wing. She was walking a lot slower than usual with a lot more focus and people were even looking at her with confused expressions. Emily was never calm when she was in the corridors. Why was she calm right now? Did that mean something bad had happened?

She stopped in her treks when she spotted Aaron at the end of the corridor talking to his staff about something. She had barely seen him in over a week and she missed him like crazy. They didn't even have five minutes for each other and Emily felt a twinge in her stomach at the thought of spending another night without him.

She chuckled to herself softly. At 16, never could she have imagined she would be standing in the West Wing, as Chief of Staff, staring at Aaron Shore, who she was hopelessly in love with.

She saw him lift out his phone and excuse himself from his staff before rushing down the corridor in her direction. When he spotted her, he smiled brightly and looked around him before planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Hey" he greeted.

"Hey… do you have a minute?" she asked as she loosely held his fingers.

"I wish I did but I need to get to a meeting, I'm already late. I'll catch you later though, I love you!" he said as he rushed past her, letting his fingers linger in her hand for as long as possible.

Emily sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Aaron turned back when he heard her sigh and frowned. He stopped in his treks and looked at her. "Are you ok?"

Emily looked at him before nodding. "I'm fine. We'll talk later" she said with a small smile.

He didn't buy that she was ok, but he would have to get to the bottom of it later.

* * *

"Well?" Lenny asked as Emily walked back into her office. "How'd it go?"

"He was on his way to a meeting, so I didn't get to tell him." Emily said as she sat down at her desk and pulled her hair into a ponytail. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Lenny quickly lifted Emily's bin up for her as she turned and threw up into it.

"You need to go home…" Lenny said as she rubbed her friend's back.

"No, I'm fine I- I need to talk to him." Emily said with certainty. She looked at her watch and saw that it was approaching 5pm.

"Well, then you're going to go sit in his office and you're going to make him sit down and you're going to tell him because I am not allowing you to have another sleepless night without Aaron Shore by your side." Lenny said definitively.

Emily chuckled lightly; "Trust me, I'm not letting myself have another sleepless night either."

At that moment, Seth walked into the office with a tray of food. "Hey! I got falafels!" He announced happily as Emily took one whiff of the food and turned and threw up again.

Lenny pulled an awkward face at Seth as his eyes widened and he lifted the tray and swiftly left again.

"I love falafels" Emily mumbled.

"I know sweetie, you'll get your falafel, maybe just wait till you're not chucking up…"

* * *

It was around 8pm when Aaron was finished with all his meetings. He made his way round to his office, loosening his tie on the way, hoping that his staff hadn't left a pile of paperwork on his desk that needed completed.

As he opened his office door he stopped in his treks and smiled softly when he saw Emily lying on his sofa asleep. As he shuffled his feet towards her, she started to wake up and smiled weakly when she saw him.

"What time is it?" She asked as she sat up slowly with a yawn.

"About 8." Aaron said as he sat on the coffee table opposite her.

"Sorry for falling asleep on your couch, I was hoping you'd be here a little sooner than 8" she said as she sat up straight with her knees facing his.

"I'm sorry I've been in back to back meetings. But, it looks like there had been no paper work left for me, so I can actually get home to our bed tonight." He said as he gave her a light kiss.

He scrunched up his face straight after before saying; "Have you been sick?"

"Oh my god, puke breath" Emily mumbled as she covered her mouth. "That's so gross, I'm sorry."

"So I'm guessing when you said you were find earlier, that wasn't quite the truth?" Aaron said, raising an eyebrow.

"Not quite… I haven't been feeling too good for the past few days" Emily began.

Aaron held her hands that rested at the edge of their knees, running his thumb over her knuckles. "I'm sorry I haven't been around to know that… was it something you ate?"

"I thought it might have been and then I thought it was maybe because I was sleeping even worse than usual cause I missed having you beside me, but neither were true" Emily said.

Aaron furrowed his eyebrows in concern as Emily looked down at their hands. "What's the matter then?"

Emily smiled softly before looking up at him. What she was about to tell him would change everything. But she was filled with such joy that she knew she couldn't imagine sharing this with anyone but him.

"Aaron…" she began. "I'm pregnant" she said softly as she watched Aaron's features light up.

"You-you're pregnant?" Aaron asked again.

"Yeah" Emily said with a brighter smile and a little chuckle. "According to the 8 tests I took, I'm pregnant… Aaron, we're going to have a baby."

Aaron smiled brightly as he quickly stood and pulled Emily into his arms, holding her as close as he could.

"I love you" he whispered into her ear as she smiled brightly.

"I love you too" she said as she pulled back. "I'm sorry I'm a little gross, I've been sick all day—"

"You're beautiful." He insisted as he moved some of her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. "Are you ready for this?"

"A lot is going to change… so I'm nervous." Emily said with a gulp. "Are you ready for this?"

"I'm nervous too… but I'm a hell of a lot more excited. _We're having a baby, Em_. _Our baby._ _Half you, half me._ It doesn't get much better than that." Aaron said with a smirk. "And of course, it's scary… but we have each other to help us through, and that's never going to change."

Emily smiled and nodded softly. "They better have your curly locks" Emily said as she ran her hand through his now unruly curls.

"As long as they have your smile" Aaron insisted as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "We're having a baby" Aaron repeated, not sure that it had fully sunk in.

"Yeah… you better get ready cause the next 9 months… and the following 18 years after that… are going to be crazy." Emily informed him.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

* * *

 **Yay, Emron baby! Don't forget to review and let me know what you'd like to see of Emily's pregnancy. I already have some stuff written, but I'm always looking for more!**


	24. Forever Starts Now

**Hi everyone! Thank you again for all your reviews, they put a smile on my face!**

 **Sorry for the slightly later upload of this chapter, I've been swamped this week with work.**

 **Slightly longer chapter than usual as Emily starts to panic, and the people closest to her have a surprise under their sleeves… enjoy!**

* * *

 **Forever Starts Now**

* * *

After a trip to the doctor's that week, it was confirmed that baby Shore would be arriving in the summer. Once they were finally able to see their baby on the sonogram, it became more real to Emily and Aaron and they were beyond excited. Emily was around 9 weeks along when they found out, and apart from their parents and the president (in case something should be leaked to the media) and Lenny, they decided they would keep it a secret until the start of the second trimester.

In the three weeks they kept it quiet, Emily was running out of excuses as to why she was late every morning, cause telling everyone she had morning sickness wasn't going to work.

" _She's on her way, she just slept in"_

" _She had a dental appointment this morning"_

" _She's meeting with some senators on the hill."_

After their 12-week scan, Aaron and Emily walked into work with bright smiles, ready to share their news with their friends in the West Wing.

"Well, well, well…" Seth said as he approached his two friends in the corridor. "Looks like Emily and Aaron were both late this morning… did you both have dental appointments?" Seth said with raised eyebrows, not buying Emily's excuses anymore.

"A doctor's appointment actually" Aaron said casually as he put his hands in his trouser pockets.

"Yeah and I was chucking up my insides for a solid half hour so that really slows down your day. Morning sickness is a real killer." Emily said with a teasing smirk as Seth's eyes widened.

"… You're pregnant?" Seth asked quietly.

Emily nodded her head as Seth clapped before pointing at them; "I knew it! You never turn down falafels!" he exclaimed, remembering when the smell of them made her feel sick a few weeks ago.

Aaron's phone buzzed and he excused himself from Emily and Seth and rushed off in the opposite direction.

"I don't think the baby is a big fan of falafels…" Emily said with a snigger.

"Oh my gosh you're having a baby?!" Kendra exclaimed as she walked towards them, over hearing their conversation.

"Uh, yeah we are" Emily said quietly. She was happy to share it with the people she worked closely with, but she didn't want her business shouted across the whole of the West wing.

"that's so exciting! When are you due?"

"around July next year" Emily replied.

"Oh well then you have plenty of time to sort everything out then" Kendra said.

Emily gulped; "what do you mean?"

"Oh well you know, a baby changes things, especially for someone in your position. If you miss a day in the West Wing you'll be behind for a year! But there are plenty of talented replacements... though of course you must think about yourself during the pregnancy too, the normal 4 hours of sleep isn't going to cut it, nor is running around here like a crazy person. Not to mention when the baby actually comes you're going to need all the sleep you can get—"

"You're going to be an amazing mom Em and I don't think Aaron is going to be a slacker dad" Seth interrupted, seeing that Emily was feeling uncomfortable with Kendra's unintentional harsh reality check.

"Oh, definitely not, he'll probably be more hands on than I'll be." Emily said as she awkwardly scratched the back of her neck. All of sudden she felt like the wind was knocked out of her and her excitement for the baby was replaced by fear.

"and what about the wedding?! Will you have to postpone it?" Kendra asked further.

"we haven't thought about It" Emily replied. _Great. Another thing to freak out about._ "I'm feeling a little light headed, excuse me" she said as she walked away.

* * *

Emily quickly went into her office, sat at her desk and rested her head in her hands. She knew Kendra meant well but she had really freaked her out. She knew having a baby and being chief of staff would be difficult but she hadn't anticipated just how difficult until now.

She sat back in her chair and her hand automatically fell to her stomach. Right now, she just looked like she'd eaten a big lunch and she couldn't quite believe that there was a baby in there.

"hard to believe huh?" She heard a voice say as she looked up and saw Aaron leaning on the door frame. "That there's a baby in there."

Emily chuckled softly "It's like you're reading my mind"

"It will probably become more real when you can feel the baby move... which happens between 16 and 25 weeks" he said with a proud smile.

Emily raised her eyebrow "you've been doing your research"

"just a bit of light reading" he replied with a shrug. "Seth said you weren't feeling good, are you ok?"

"yeah, I'm fine, Kendra just freaked me out a little"

"about what?"

"don't get me wrong, I am so excited to have a baby but... reality just kinda sunk in for me. I knew it was going to be hard but I didn't anticipate just how hard. My job wasn't really designed for new mothers"

"And you're going to find a way to challenge that. You're going to make the job accessible to you as a mom, it doesn't have to, and will never be, one or the other." Aaron said as her walked towards her desk and sat on the edge of it. "And you're not alone in this Em. We're partners. Always. We will work things out as we go and sure, we're not always going to get it right, but you can be damned sure we're going to do right by our baby"

Emily stood up and softly kissed him before pulled him in for a hug; "I love you"

"I love you more"

"Speaking of partners... what are we going to do about our spring wedding? I'm not sure I'll be able to fit into my dress then..." Emily said as she ran a hand across her stomach.

"I think Lenny has a solution to that. Come on" Aaron said as he grabbed her hand and led her out of her office.

They walked out onto the terrace and Emily gasped when she saw what was in front of her. The flowers that they had ordered were being arranged around the garden, chairs set out, lights hung and amongst all the chaos, Vivienne and Lenny stood directing people with what to do, including Seth, Warner and George. Even Lyor lifted a chair or two.

"What is all this?" Emily asked quietly as everyone stopped to smile at her.

"Well..." She heard a voice behind her say as she turned around to see Tom walking towards her. "We all wanted you and Aaron to have the wedding you wanted and deserved before this little one arrives. It's one less thing for you to have to worry about, so I asked Lenny to call your friends and set things up here for a wedding this weekend."

"I—I don't know what to say" Emily said as she looked around her, amazed at the decor.

Tom smiled before saying softly; "say yes"

Emily turned to Aaron who was smiling softly at her. "What do you say Rhodes? You want to get married today?"

Emily smiled brightly; "yeah. I do!"

Everyone cheered as Emily gave Aaron a quick kiss before being whisked away by Vivienne and Lenny.

"Ok, we called both of your families last night and the president made sure they were on the quickest flights here, so they will be here with plenty of time to spare" Vivienne explained.

"we also know you're probably freaking out about fitting into your dress right now but honestly you just look like you ate a big lunch and your dress has a bit of give so you'll be fine—" Lenny said quickly

"Guys" Emily said as she stopped and the two girls turned to look at her. "For as long as you have known me I have been the sensible girl, the perfectionist, never set a foot out line... but now... I'm having a _shotgun_ wedding."

The girls all looked at each other with straight faces before bursting into laughter.

"My, my how far you have come Emily Rhodes." Lenny joked as they linked arms and walked into the White House.

* * *

"What are you thinking about Shore?" George asked Aaron, who was sitting in an arm chair, his head rested on his hand, staring into space.

The Kirkmans had provided both Emily and Aaron with a room to get ready in

"Just the first time I met Emily at that party we threw during high school" Aaron told him as he sat up straighter in his chair and smiled softly.

"We remember that well, you were completely awestruck by her." George said as he threw Aaron his tie.

"You'd never met a girl with quite so much gusto before. You were taken by her immediately, even if you refused to admit it" Warner added.

"What was it you said about her again?" George asked, remembering Aaron making a bold declaration once everyone left the party.

Aaron smiled and stood up to look in the mirror and fix his tie. "I sat on the couch after everyone had left with this stupid smile on my face and you asked me what I was smiling about and I said... _I think I just met the girl I'm going to marry_. People would say I was crazy for saying that after one meeting when we were practically kids but... I just knew. I don't think I've ever told her that."

"Yeah _we_ were the ones who didn't believe it, considering how much crap you put each other through... but you actually made it..." Warner said with a sincere smile.

"We're really happy for you man. You guys deserve every bit of happiness and more." George said, patting Aaron on the shoulder.

* * *

Emily stood in front of the floor length mirror, taking in her reflection. For the past month, she had felt sick all day every day, but right now, she felt like a _dream_. Her dress still fit, Vivienne and Lenny had pulled her hair back beautifully, so a few locks fell around her face. Her grandmother and her mother had also given her some elegant jewellery pieces that they had both worn at their weddings.

She smoothed out the front of her dress and took a deep breath. _She was getting married today._ And to Aaron Shore? No one could have made her believe that 15 years ago. They put each other through a lot of crap:

" _He called me minor leaguer, what does he know anyway?! He's an immature 18 year-old kid who has had everything handed to him because he has rich friends and a flare for football."_

" _Last week you called me a psychopath who needed to take the large stick shoved up her ass, out of it."_

" _Emily, you call me a dick almost everyday!"_

" _You know prom right? The event with the dance and the dresses and the suits and the king and queen? Oh wait, you probably don't know what that is cause your busy reading schedule prevents you from having a social life."_

" _God, you're so immature Aaron, if you ever want to make it in Washington, you're going to have to wise the hell up!"_

" _I'm just sick of not being wanted. You left, twice. Just when I thought we were getting over this whole frenemy thing… we almost had our chance and then you were gone Aaron."_

" _You know what Aaron, just forget it. I'm not going to do this anymore, I'm not going to think we're having this nice time together and then you just shoot me down… I'm not some kid with big dreams, my dreams are becoming a reality and I'm just… I'm not going to do it anymore."_

" _Oh, hello to you two Aaron, it's been what, 8 months since you last made me feel crap about myself? Thank you for the apology by the way, it was nice of you to put your pride aside for once in your life—oh, wait… that's not right…"_

" _God, Emily, why can't you just keep your nose out of things? I call you a minor leaguer and you screw up my relationship?"_

" _Look, you and I have our differences and you don't want me in there, but those differences are personal, they don't need to be brought into the White House."_

" _You were never open to me Emily, our relationship didn't have so many false starts all because of me. You're not the only one who got hurt in this relationship."_

Emily was snapped out of her trip down memory lane when there was a light knock at the door.

"Come in!" she shouted as the door opened and her dad appeared. Emily turned round and smiled at him and he smiled back, with tears glistening in his eyes.

"You're the most beautiful bride I've ever seen." He said as Emily walked towards him and took his hands. "Let's get you married."

* * *

All of Emily and Aaron's closest friends and family were soon gathered in the rose garden and Emily took a deep breath as her father led her down the aisle to her soon to be husband. Aaron couldn't help the smile that graced his face when he saw Emily walking towards him. She was stunning and she was his.

As Emily looked at Aaron and everything she had been remembering earlier was entirely eclipsed by the love and good memories she had of him.

" _This year has been fun… and frustrating… but fun, and it's definitely owed in part to you."_

" _Thank you for pushing my buttons. You always need someone in life who's going to challenge you to be the best person you can be."_

" _Are you kidding? You're beautiful… I was jealous and I didn't like seeing you with someone who just… wasn't worthy."_

" _Something tells me that no matter how hard people try to get rid of you… when Aaron Shore enters their life, he's there to stay."_

" _Aaron, are you worried about me?"_

" _For the first time in my life I'm going to allow myself to be vulnerable and I'm just going to tell you the truth… I love you Aaron. I do. I love you and my heart can't take us not being something. I'm yours and I won't give up on us again."_

" _I'd give you my heart Emily… but I can't give you something you already have."_

" _Timing is on our side now Emily and I am never letting you go again."_

" _Love makes you do weird things."_

" _You're staring, it's creepy." "I'm staring cause you're beautiful, that's romantic."_

" _Don't forget you're not bullet proof while I'm gone."_

" _I love you, Aaron. What AJ said to you tonight… it wasn't true. You're making a difference, you are good at what you do and you have so much worth."_

" _Thank you for reminding me that it's not too late to make things right. Thank you for being you."_

" _I want to you have by my side for the rest of my life and I want the rest of our lives to start now."_

" _I loved you through all of it."_

" _Our heart break is in the past, let's focus on the present."_

" _She reminded me what family is and she loved me at my worst… she's loved me through all the crap it took us to get here. I'm crazy about her."_

" _We don't always get it right… but I am crazy about your son and I know I am going to love him for the rest of my life."_

As Emily took Aaron's hand when they made it to the front, she felt like she was home. Nothing had felt righter. Aaron gave her a slick wink as she giggled quietly. Love in Washington doesn't happen every day, yet their forever was starting right now.

* * *

Later that evening, the new Mr and Mrs Shore swayed softly on the dance floor, under the reception gazebo to that had been set up, heated and all as the evening drew colder. It had been a beautiful ceremony and Lenny and George had provided great maid of honour and best man speeches. George even told the story Aaron had recounted earlier, and how he knew he was going to marry Emily.

"Did you actually say you were going to marry me the first time you met me?" Emily asked as Aaron held her close.

"yeah I did... and you know I don't want to brag that I was right or anything but..." Aaron joked.

"Oh stop…" Emily said as she rolled her eyes at his arrogance.

"I knew I was going to marry you, and you loved me through all the crap we went through… yet we could never admit it out loud."

"We're a right a pair, huh?" Emily said with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh yeah… but we're here and the rest of our lives starts now. I love you Mrs Shore."

Emily smirked as she rested her forehead against her husband's. "I love you Mr Shore. Always."


	25. Even When You Hate 'em

**Just a fun little something for this chapter… enjoy!**

* * *

 **Even When You Hate 'em**

* * *

" _Aaron. Aaron. AARON!"_

Aaron was suddenly jolted from his sleep by his wife shouting his name and poking him with her finger. He opened one eye to see Emily standing beside him with her hands on her hips.

 _"What?"_ he spat, annoyed that he had been woken up in such an abrupt manner, especially when Kirkman had granted them permission to come into work a little later today.

"Am I getting fat?" Emily asked as she stood to her side and lifted her top to reveal her barely there belly.

It had been a month since the wedding and after a short 3 day honeymoon, they were straight back to work, basking in their newly married bliss. As Emily entered her 16th week of pregnancy, she had begun to notice little changes to her body, changes she wasn't all that happy about.

"What?" Aaron said as he rolled on his back and rubbed his eyes.

"Are you _deaf?"_ Emily said with a glare; "I asked you _am I fat?"_

"Emily, you're supposed to put on a little weight in order to have a baby." Aaron said honestly as he sat up in bed.

Emily's shoulders slumped and she sighed; "You think I'm fat."

"I think you're pregnant"

"That's just a nicer way of saying you're fat!" she said as her eyes watered.

Aaron reached out for her hand but she quickly pulled away and stormed towards the bathroom.

"Emily, come on!" Aaron said as he got out of bed and went after her. "You're over reacting!"

Emily spun on her heel and pointed at him; "I am _not_ over reacting! You're the one who called me fat, when do you ever tell a girl she's fat?!" Emily exclaimed through gritted teeth.

"I did not call you fat! I just said you're supposed to gain a little weight!" Aaron said as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"I'm not gaining any weight, Aaron. Just you watch…" Emily said as she slammed the door in Aaron's face.

He suddenly heard a splash and Emily scream. The door flung open and Emily's face was like thunder.

"AARON. How many times have I told you to put the seat down?!" she said, throwing a towel at him.

Aaron raised his eyebrows; "You fell into the toilet?"

Emily glared; "You better not be choosing this moment to tease me Aaron. So help me God—"

"Ok! Ok! I'm sorry, I'll put the seat down… as long as you stop leaving you shoes in the middle of the floor, I keep tripping over them. And your panties for that matter, we have a hamper for a reason." He said lifting up a pair of her underwear and throwing them in the basket.

"Don't turn this around on me Shore, this is all your fault!" Emily said stomping her foot. _"You_ can't put the toilet seat down, and _you_ got me pregnant!"

"That one definitely takes two!"

"I don't care. Now, _I'm fat!"_

"YOU ARE NOT FAT, YOU ARE PREGNANT!" Aaron said grasping his curls in his hands. It was like talking to brick wall.

"SHUT UP AARON!" Emily said, once again walking into the bathroom and slamming the door.

 _This was going to be a long day._

* * *

Aaron and Emily walked into the West Wing a short while later, remaining completely silent. They both had grumpy looks on their faces, Emily every so often sending a glare in Aaron's direction.

They were soon met by Seth, who could immediately tell that neither of them were in a good mood.

"Hey… you guys ok?" Seth asked cautiously.

"Just perfect." Aaron said through his teeth as he stormed past.

Emily scoffed and folded her arms as they watched him walk away; "Do you ever just look at a person... and everything they do annoys you?"

Seth looked at Emily with wide eyes. All he could say was; "uh…"

"It's like he wants to sleep on the couch tonight." Emily interrupted, not really caring what Seth had to say.

"Have I missed something…?" Seth asked as they walked into Emily's office, and saw Aaron sitting on one of the sofas on his phone.

Emily sighed; she thought she'd gotten rid of him for the day 30 seconds ago. "Don't you have your own office?"

"Kirkman wants to meet us here. You'd know that if you stopped complaining for 5 seconds and looked at your phone…" Aaron mumbled under his breath, but certainly loud enough for Emily to hear.

Emily was about to scold him, but Seth got in there first; "Ok, what happened?"

"Seth, am I fat?" Emily asked her friend.

"Don't answer that!" Aaron exclaimed as he shot up from the sofa and pointed at Seth; "It's a trick question."

"Wait… Aaron… please tell me you didn't tell her she was fat?"

"I didn't! I just said she was pregnant and she was supposed to gain a little weight." Aaron explained.

"Wrong answer dude…" Seth said as he hissed through his teeth.

"Yeah well I know that now" Aaron mumbled as he folded his arms and Emily rolled her eyes.

"And Emily… you do realise you're pregnant, right?" Seth asked.

Emily straightened her posture; "Yes."

"So, considering there is another human being inside of you, you're going to have a round belly." Seth stated simply.

"I mean… I guess…" Emily said, not wanting to admit that it was as simple and true as that.

"So, I think we've all learnt a valuable lesson here. Emily, you're going to gain weight, but you're not going to be fat. Aaron, there are certain ways to approach this topic… and that is not it. Now… talk." Seth said as he swiftly left the room.

Emily and Aaron both stood side by side with their arms crossed, not wanting to be the first to crack."

Emily took a deep breath and said quietly; "Will you still love me when I'm all round and _big_?"

Aaron chuckled; "Em, there's just going to be more of you to love."

Emily turned and began fixing Aaron's tie; "You're lucky I love you and find it really hard to stay mad at you." She said.

"It's ok, you're sexy when you're mad." He teased with a smirk and an eyebrow raise.

"Is that why you won't just paint the baby's room? Cause you want to make me mad?" Emily said, having asked Aaron to do it everyday for the past three weeks.

"I've been busy… and you're only 4 months along." Aaron justified.

"I know, but knowing you, you'll put it off till the last minute and the room will smell of paint fumes and the baby won't be able to stay there." Emily reminded him.

"… fine, I'll do it on Saturday." Aaron relented.

"Thank you" Emily said before giving him a quick kiss.

Even when Emily hated Aaron, she couldn't help but love him more than anything on this Earth.

* * *

"Aaron… Aaron…. Aaron!" Emily said as Aaron jolted from his sleep.

"What?" he mumbled into his pillow.

He opened one eye and saw Emily staring excitedly down at him.

"Tell me I look fat!" she asked, moving to the side and showing him her perturding belly.

It had been a month since their last discussion of Emily gaining weight and Aaron was proceeding with caution, having learnt from the last time.

"You're not fat."

"Aaron, come on! It's ok, me being fat is a sign that our baby is growing and how amazing is that?" Emily said with a beaming smile.

Emily was right. It was amazing. But Aaron wasn't going to give in. He climbed out of bed and walked towards the bathroom.

"You look skinny as ever."

"Aaron!"

"I've trained myself since the last time, I know better now. You haven't gained a pound." He said as he walked into the bathroom.

"Dammit Aaron, tell me I look fat!"

* * *

 **Don't forget to review!**


	26. Cravings

**Cravings**

* * *

Emily woke up and brushed her hair out of her face. She rolled over to the other side of the bed to find it empty. She frowned before getting up and slipping on one of Aaron's discarded shirts. As she made her way downstairs, she could smell the faint aroma of pancakes and she smiled. She had been having some crazy food cravings the past few weeks and Aaron was doing everything he could to appease them. Normally in the morning she was craving pancakes, her favourite, but they never had enough time to make them.

As she entered the doorway of the kitchen, she saw Aaron sitting at the kitchen table, eating his cereal and going through some papers for work, already dressed for the day. Emily smirked as she felt butterflies in her stomach. It was crazy to her that just looking at Aaron Shore made her insanely happy.

"You're up early" she said as she sauntered towards him.

Aaron turned his head to the side and smiled when he saw her; "Thought I'd finally make you those pancakes you've been craving every morning."

"and they smell delicious" Emily said as she straddled Aaron's lap and kissed him. "Good morning" she whispered as she smiled against his lips.

"Yeah this is a good morning…" he said as he rested his hands on the side of her legs. "You're in a good mood."

"You know the way every night I've been craving a double cheese burger with extra fries and nothing else will satisfy me?" Emily said as she lowered his hand to his belt.

"Uh huh…"

"Well, this morning… I woke up with a whole new craving." She said as she removed his belt, feeling Aaron react to her immediately.

"Is that so?" he said in a low voice as she nodded her head and immediately captured his lips with hers.

Aaron immediately deepened the kiss as Emily removed his tie, both fighting for dominance as their tongues clashed. When his tie was gone, Aaron lifted her up causing her to squeal slightly before giggling, and carried her over to the sofa in the sitting area of their open planned house. He lowered her down onto the sofa, lowering himself with her and immediately began attacking her neck with his lips as Emily pulled at his trousers.

Aaron's hands snaked up the side of her shirt and his fingers began to pull at the rim of her panties…

 _Buzz Buzz Buzz_

"It's my phone" Aaron said out of breath as Emily continued to steal kisses from him.

"Ignore it" Emily said as Aaron lost all sense in that moment and continued to fiercely kiss her.

 _Buzz Buzz Buzz_

Aaron rested his forehead against Emily's and sighed, before getting up and looking at his phone.

"I gotta go" he said as he lifted his belt, tie and jacket before fixing his trousers. "I love you" he said as he walked behind the sofa and kissed her before escaping out the door.

Emily lay back dramatically on the sofa, frustrated that her craving was not satisfied.

* * *

Emily sat at the table in one of the conference rooms with her arms crossed, continually tapping her foot, staring right at him. They had been working together all day today and Emily felt like she was about to explode. She hadn't taken her eyes off Aaron for past 15 minutes as he sat opposite her during a national security meeting.

She was impatient and frustrated and entirely unsatisfied and as soon as this meeting was over she was going to do something about it.

Aaron could sense her piercing eyes on him, but he couldn't look at her because he knew it would distract him for the rest of the meeting, that he was supposed to be leading. The tension between them was palpable and he was beginning to feel as frustrated as she was.

20 minutes later, the meeting was over, and Emily practically jumped from her chair and was on her way out the door after Aaron when the president stopped her.

"Emily;" he said as Emily stopped suddenly in her tracks and put her best smiling face.

"Yes, Mr President?" she responded politely.

"I haven't had the chance to check in on you for the past while, how are you feeling? You're entering your 21st week, right?" Kirkman asked. Alex had clearly been keeping him in the loop.

"I'm good sir. I've been having some crazy cravings and I'm really horn—hormonal. _Hormonal. Really hormonal_." Emily said, cringing at herself for almost making an incredibly awkward and inappropriate confession. "But I'm powering through."

"I remember when Alex was pregnant with Leo, she was the exact same. If you need anything, please just let me know." Tom insisted before leaving the room.

Emily sighed and rubbed her forehead before taking a deep breath and storming out the door.

 _She needed to find Aaron, and she needed to find him now._

* * *

After ten minutes of searching, Emily finally found Aaron walking in her direction. He looked up from his phone and smiled at her.

"He—" he began, but was cut off when Emily grabbed his arm and dragged him into the empty room beside them, looking the door behind her.

"What are you doing?" Aaron asked as Emily took his jacket off.

"We are finishing what we started this morning" she said as she continued to undress him.

Aaron smirked, "What happened to that degree of professionalism that you wanted to keep around here?"

"That got thrown out the window when you got me pregnant, now shut up and kiss me." She said as she cupped his face and pulled him in for a searing kiss.

Aaron quickly responded, lifting her up and setting her on the desk behind them, snaking his hands up her skirt, ready to end both of their frustrations.

 _They were really going to enjoy this pregnancy._


	27. Who's Loving You?

**Loosely based on 2x07… enjoy!**

* * *

 **Who's Loving You?**

* * *

"Hey" Aaron greeted with a sigh as he sat down beside Emily as she worked at the table in her office.

"Hey" she replied with just as deep a smile.

It had been a long day trying to deal with the president of Turkey and they were ready to go home and get their standard 5 hours of sleep.

Aaron smirked when he saw the empty bag of chips sitting in front of her and some hidden chocolate bar wrappers in the palm of her hand.

"Having a little late-night feast?" he asked as he lifted the bag.

Emily glared; "Don't judge me Shore, I'm stress eating for two."

"Stress isn't good for the baby" Aaron reminded her.

"Tell that to the country, Aaron. There are always fires to put out which means stress." Emily said as she continued to look through the paper. "I just never thought one of those fires would be Leo Kirkman being played by his girlfriend." Emily said as she leant back in her chair.

"Yeah, Leo did not deserve that… he seemed to really like her." Aaron agreed.

"It just makes you wonder if you ever really know a person." Emily said as she finally turned in her chair to face her husband. "I married you." Emily stated matter of factly.

"I'm aware" Aaron confirmed with a little chuckle.

"I let you get me pregnant" she continued.

"I'm pretty sure that takes two but go on" Aaron said, sensing that now was not the time to argue that one.

"I've known you for 15 years. Do you think that's long enough to marry someone and have babies with them?" Emily asked.

"I don't think it's about the length of time you've known someone, Em. It's about the quality time you've spent. I think we know each other well enough not to consider divorce." He said with a smirk as he tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"I'm not going to divorce you, you idiot" Emily said with an eye roll. "I'm just saying there are things about you that I don't know! I would like to know the man I love."

"What do you want to know?"

"How many girls you've slept with" Emily said straight off the bat.

Aaron scrunched up his face; "You really want to know that?"

"… probably not, you were a bit of a man whore in high school." Emily said absentmindedly.

"I really was not as bad as you think I was." Aaron protested.

"Whatever… I also don't know how many kids you want" Emily said.

"A small army but I think I'll re-evaluate that one when this baby comes." Aaron teased.

"I'm serious!"

"So am I! Emily, I would repopulate the Earth with you if I could." Aaron said with a sweet smile which Emily couldn't help but return.

"Well… I think I want three."

"Five."

"… I will _consider_ 4\. I'm not sure the world could handle any more than 4 of our no doubt stubborn babies into the world." Emily said with a snigger.

"No, I think the world needs as many of our stubborn babies as they can get." Aaron replied as Emily rolled her eyes playfully. "Anything else you would like to know?"

"Whether you want this baby to be a boy or a girl." Emily asked quietly.

Aaron eyed her quizzically; "You know something" he said.

"What?" Emily asked.

"I can read you like a map Emily Rhodes, you know what we're having don't you?"

"I… may… have sneaked a peak at the file at my last ultrasound…" Emily confessed.

"Emily!"

"I'm sorry!"

"I thought we were going to keep it a surprise." Aaron said raising his eyebrows at her.

"You know I don't like information being withheld from me… and this way we can prepare better with clothes and stuff…" Emily justified. "But if you still don't want to know I won't tell you, I'll just hide all her things from you"

Aaron remained silent as he sat back slightly and looked at his wife. She hadn't even realised her slip up… and he wasn't even mad. All thoughts of her finding out had gone and he was filled with an immense amount of joy.

" _Her? We're having a girl_?" Aaron asked quietly with a small smile on his face.

Emily's eyes widened as she realised her slip up, but as soon as she saw the joy on Aaron's face her glance softened, and she felt herself well up.

"Yeah…" she confirmed in barely a whisper. "We're having a little girl" she said as Aaron stood, pulling her up with him and into a hug.

"Are you happy?" Emily asked as Aaron pulled back and cupped her cheeks.

"Are you kidding?" he said as he kissed her. "A mini Emily Rhodes is exactly what this world needs."

"Or a female Aaron Shore" Emily suggested with a raised eyebrow.

Aaron chuckled; "your qualities are definitely going to trump mine in the genetic pool."

"I'm excited" Emily confessed as Aaron wiped away her stray tear.

"Me too… I can't wait to meet her. I'm going to spoil her rotten"

Emily laughed; "There is no doubt in my mind that you would spoil your daughter rotten. She's going to love you so much"

"And you're going to be the best mom in the world… did you ever think when were in high school, shouting at each other almost every day, we'd be standing here talking about our daughter?"

"Never in a million years… but I'm so thankful we are." Emily said as she rested her forehead against his; "I love you"

"I love you more." Aaron replied as he gave her a sweet and searing kiss.

* * *

 **Don't forget to review...**


	28. Attention Seeking

**A little imagining of the events of 1x09 happening when Emily and Aaron were married and expecting their baby.**

 **I know there are some inconsistencies with putting this now in the story, but let's just imagine for a moment that this fits, because I couldn't resist writing a very angry Aaron in this situation…**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Attention Seeking**

* * *

Aaron walked into The White House with two cups in his hand, not sure he was ready for the day. While they had moved past the conspiracy against the government, there seemed to be a new issue every day that needed resolving—or it would lead to the end of the Kirkman administration.

But his boss was a keen negotiator, and he had an excellent team behind him.

Aaron met Seth as he walked through the corridor and Seth pointed to the take away cups.

"Did you buy me coffee?" He asked with a sly smile.

"No, I bought Emily this weird herbal tea she likes. Says it helps with the pregnancy sickness…" Aaron said sniffing it and then turning up his nose. He could never understand how Emily liked this stuff.

"Why do you never buy me weird herbal tea?" Seth teased.

"Because I'm not in love with you." Aaron replied dryly as Seth pouted.

Before they could move any further, Emily came rushing towards them, thrusting her phone in Aaron's face.

"There's been a National Security breech. Gabriel Thompson just dumped a massive amount of government documents on WikiLeaks." Emily said as Aaron scrolled through the contents.

"WikiLeaks? Isn't that like a whistle blower cliché?" Seth asked.

"Not when all the documents are linked with members of the previous administration." Aaron said.

"Which Kirkman served on" Emily added. "Is that my herbal tea?"

"Yeah" Aaron said as he handed her the cup.

Emily smirked; "Thank you, I love you. Now, what are we going to do about this?"

"Kirkman's files haven't been released…" Aaron commented as he looked through the documents.

"Why would he hold them back?" Seth asked.

"Maybe it's strategy?" Emily suggested. "He's waiting till the press is in a frenzy, so he has the whole country's attention."

"Maybe… I guess we better find out if Kirkman has anything to hide." Aaron said as they walked on to continue their day.

 _This was going to be a long one._

* * *

It was around lunch time when another dump was made on WikiLeaks. Just as Seth was telling Emily that there didn't look like there was anything that could touch Kirkman, Aaron was quick to jump in and prove them wrong.

"Have you seen the memo on Senator Hazelton?" Aaron asked.

"Ugh, the country would have been better off if he'd stayed retired." Emily said as she scrolled through the memo before forming an o with her mouth and sitting back in the chair.

"That is definitely true" Aaron said with a sigh.

"Yet he's the one person in Washington we can't afford to piss off and we just did…" Seth said as he stood from his chair. "I'll give you two a minute…"

Emily sighed as she ran her hand across her forehead; "Aaron—"

"He wants Kirkman to fire you for that memo." Aaron interrupted. "Hazelton sexually harasses women… and the most competent staff member on Kirkman's administration is in the firing line. Unbelievable." Aaron said as he slumped down on the sofa in Emily's office.

"Aaron, we need to face the reality of this situation. A leaked memo isn't going to change the fact that Hazelton is the chairman of the Appropriations Committee. The man is as stubborn as he is repulsive, and I can sit there and beg at his feet for him to let this go, but he won't." Emily said as she looked down at her hands she had rested on the table. "The President can't put me first. Not before critical legislation—"

"Emily, I know where you're going with this and I really have to insist that you don't." Aaron said holding up a hand.

"He has to accept my resignation." Emily said firmly.

"He didn't accept my resignation when I leaked the Al-Sakaar video last year, he's hardly going to accept yours now, he trusts you more than anyone in this place!"

"He doesn't really have a choice Aaron."

"Emily, he needs you here, I need you here, this is not happening. You are not resigning." Aaron said firmly as the both stood up.

"I'm not asking your permission Aaron." She replied as she walked closer to him. "I know you just want to protect me and I love you for it, but I don't think this is something we can fix."

Aaron looked at Emily with sheer desperation in his eyes. He needed to fix this, there had to be something he could do.

"I'll talk to Kendra or Lenny—"

"Aaron—"

There was a knock at the door as both their heads shot up to see Lyor standing with a file.

"Sorry to interrupt." He said as he walked in and handed Emily the file. "I narrowed down the list of people who want an exclusive with the President. These ones could actually be of benefit to the administration."

"There are still a lot of names on this list…" Emily said as she scanned her eye down them.

"Some of them I'm not sure we can really say no to" Lyor said.

Emily sighed; "Well I can't say that I blame them. Who wouldn't want five minutes with the president?"

Aaron's head shot up as he looked at Emily; "What did you just say?"

"I said who wouldn't want—"

"5 minutes with the president…" Aaron said as a small smile formed on his face. He cupped Emily's cheeks in his hands; "You're a genius" he said before kissing her forehead. "Call the Venezuelan Ambassador, tell him I'm on my way over!" Aaron said as he quickly left the room.

"O-ok!" Emily called after him, entirely unsure by what just happened.

* * *

A short while later, Aaron walked into the Venezuelan Embassy and came face to face with Thompson.

"Mr Thompson? I'm Aaron Shore, National Security Adviser to the President."

"I know who you are Mr. Shore. How's your wife?" he asked smugly.

Aaron clenched his jaw; "Not so great. How about we talk about rectifying that situation?"

"And how do you suppose we do that?"

"By giving you what you want. Five minutes with the president."

"And what makes you think that's what you want?" Thompson asked with his arms crossed.

"You've been very specific about what you've posted on the internet. First you went after members of Richmond's cabinet and then you went after Kirkman's most trusted member of staff. You made sure we noticed and believe me; our full attention is on you." Aaron said.

"… Yes." Thompson simply stated.

Aaron scoffed; "Hell of a way to get an audience with the leader of the free world."

"We use the tools we have Mr. Shore." Thompson justified.

"Yes, but you have hurt, perhaps irrevocably, the most brilliant person in Washington. You've hurt my _wife_ and I, along with the rest of Kirkman's senior staff take that _very_ personally. Right now, she and I are what stand in your way from meeting the president. Why should we reward you with his time?"

"Because I had to hang Emily Rhodes in the wind to get your attention… but I'm also the guy that can save your wife's career."

* * *

Thompson handed over a pen drive that held all the proof they needed to send Hazelton back into retirement. As Emily's day drew to a close she made her way round to Aaron's office and stood in the door way and watched as her husband looked through some files.

After a few moments she cleared her voice and said; "You really are my knight in shining armour Aaron Shore."

Aaron leant back in his chair and smirked; "it was your idea"

"and you saw it through. We make a good team." She said as she sat on the edge of his desk.

"Anything to keep a good employee around…" he teased.

Emily raised her eyebrow; "Good employee? You're such a jerk…" she said as she pushed his shoulder.

He held her wrist before she could pull it away and stood up, so he was towering over her.

"I'm glad this is behind us. I don't know what I would have done without you around here."

"I don't know what you would have done either. No one bosses you around quite like I do, huh?" Emily said with a smirk as Aaron ran his hands up her arms.

"That's very true." He said with a smirk. "Shall we go get some dinner?" Aaron asked as he reached over to his chair to lift his jacket.

"Yes! Me and the baby are star—oh my god!" Emily said as she rested a hand on her stomach as a mixture of fear and confusion fell across her face.

Aaron's eyes widened, "What? Are you ok? Is the baby ok?" He asked frantically.

"I don't know I just had this really weird feeling… oh my god! There it is again!" she said. The fear from her face fell to a soft smile as she rested both hands on her small bump. "Oh my gosh" she said with a giggle.

"What?" Aaron asked, still frantically concerned about her.

"Aaron…" she said as she grabbed his hand and rested it on her stomach.

Aaron's face also softened when he realised what Emily had been feeling.

"Kicking" he said quietly as Emily nodded her head and smiled brightly.

"I guess the prospect of dinner excites her just as much as it excites me." Emily said with a giggle.

"That's incredible…" Aaron said as he stared at Emily in amazement.

"I know" Emily said as she gave Aaron a quick kiss before joining in to feel their baby kick a little more.


	29. Home is Where the Heart is

**An angry Aaron last chapter and a worried Emily this chapter... based on 2x08.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Home is Where the Heart is**

* * *

Emily stood anxiously at the bedroom door, watching as Aaron packed his bag. He was flying out tonight to Afghanistan with the president and Emily was worried. Who wouldn't be?

"I'll only be gone for a few days" Aaron said, not even looking up. He didn't need to look at Emily to know how she was feeling.

"A few days too long."

"I was away last week, and you didn't complain then." Aaron reminded her. He had gone to New York with Warner and George for a few days last week for a break.

"This is Afghanistan we're talking about Aaron not the freakin' Plaza!" Emily said with an exacerbated tone.

Aaron looked up and smirk lightly; "Emily… are you worried about me?" he teased, reminding her of the time she was sent to Michigan.

Emily narrowed her eyes; "Don't tease me, yes I am worried about you and so were you and I was only in Michigan, so I think you can let me have this one!"

Aaron walked towards Emily and pulled her into his chest as she closed her eyes and listened to his steady heartbeat, feeling so safe and secure with his arms wrapped around her.

"I will be fine and I will be in touch."

"Just… don't do anything stupid. Call of Duty doesn't really qualify you for what you might see out there." Emily joked as Aaron smiled lightly and kissed her head.

"I promise I'll be careful."

* * *

Emily couldn't quite believe her luck when she arrived into work the next day. Of course when she was feeling anxious and afraid everything would go wrong. Both Seth and Lyor were having legal issues, Lyor was terrible at being press secretary and the first lady still had a subpoena looming over her.

She had a blinding head ache since the first issue landed on her desk and she didn't feel like it would be going away any time soon.

She tried to hide out in her office for as long as she could but every time she sat down someone came in with something for her to do.

By the time Lenny walked into the room, her patience was gone.

"Hey Em—" Lenny began as she entered her office.

"What?!" Emily asked aggressively as she looked up from the sofa to see a confused looking Lenny.

"Ok Momma pants, what's got into you?" Lenny said as she put her hands on her hips.

"I don't know Lenny, maybe it's the fact that someone is trying to set the first lady and her mother up or that Lyor's marriage is causing him to evade his taxes or the fact that Seth just put his job on the line to save his little brother or that my husband is in freakin' Afghanistan and where there has just been a bomb right beside where they are, and he hasn't called me once!" Emily said quickly.

"… right. That's a lot…" Lenny said slowly as Emily placed her head in her hands and tried to calm herself down.

When she finally lifted her head up, Lenny could see the tears forming in her eyes and the anxiety that was spread across her face.

"Em…" Lenny began as she walked towards her and sat beside her.

"You know me Lenny, I get stressed, I get worked up, but I am never like this. I tackle things head on, I deal with my issues as they come, but I don't know how to deal with this. I don't know how to deal with him being in a _war zone."_ Emily confessed as Lenny held onto her best friend's hand. "He's only going to be there for 48 hours and he's not going into combat, I know… but when I saw the news footage of that bomb it just put me into this mindset of how I just couldn't live without him and I don't want to imagine that."

"Oh honey…" Emily said as she pulled her friend in for a side hug, allowing her to cry. "I know you're never like this, but when someone you love so much is in danger, it's totally natural to freak out. But you need to take a minute and breathe. _He's ok._ You would know if he wasn't."

"I know, I know, I just… he should have called me. Honestly, he could have called and just said "I'm ok" and then hung up and I could breathe again. He promised me a forever Lenny and after everything I'm not going to let him give me any less than that." Emily said as her hand instinctively fell to her stomach. "It probably sounds ridiculous but last night was the first night that I slept in our bed without him in I don't know how long and I just- I couldn't sleep. I was so used to him being there that I just felt so off about being there alone."

"It's not ridiculous... it's _love_." Lenny said with a little snicker that Emily returned.

She knew the stress that she was under wasn't good for her or the baby and Lenny knew it too.

"I also can't believe that Seth would jeopardize everything like this, I can't lose him around here, I need him." Emily said, incredibly worried about the trouble her friend had gotten himself into.

"Ok, you're going to go home and you're going to get into your pyjamas and I'm going to call Vivienne and send her over with a whole load of junk food and chick flicks." Lenny said as Emily smiled lightly. "Kendra and I are going to deal with this Seth and Lyor thing and then I will be right over, and I am not leaving your side until Aaron is back on American soil. Not just American soil, White House soil or Casa Shore soil." Lenny joked as Emily laughed softly.

"You're the best" Emily said quietly.

As Lenny stood and gave her a wink, before leaving the room.

 _She needed to find Seth._

* * *

It didn't take long for Lenny to locate Seth. He was sitting in the chair at his desk, squeezing a stress ball. She felt the anger boil in her a little. Why was he just sitting there?

"Hey." She said bluntly.

"You here to help solve my woes?" Seth asked.

"No, I'm here to tell you to wise the hell up." Lenny said as she crossed her arms.

"Don't start with me Lenny—"

"I get that you want to protect you family. I want to protect mine too. Emily is my family. Did you think about how all of this would affect her?" Lenny asked as Seth sunk in his chair in silence. "Her husband is in Afghanistan and now one of her closest friends is caught in a drugs scandal. She didn't need that today. She's pregnant Seth and she's in one of the most stressful jobs on the planet. Stress and pregnancy don't mix!"

"This isn't about Emily, Lenny. This is my issue." Seth simply stated.

"If you believe that this doesn't have an impact on the people closest to you, then you're deluded. Kendra may have got you off the hook, but you are walking a very thin line and I mean that as Emily's best friend and as a lawyer." Lenny warned.

Seth merely nodded, realising this was a battle that he wasn't going to win.

"Just—be careful Seth. You matter just as much as Michael does and this is bigger than both of you." Lenny finished, before turning and leaving the room.

* * *

Lenny held true to her word and she and Vivienne kept Emily company for the night. They felt like they were 16 again, spending their Saturday nights in their dorm room, all huddled on a make shift bed on the floor. Expect this time, they were all huddled in Emily and Aaron's bed as they ate and watched movies, before falling asleep.

Aaron arrived home early the next morning and wanting nothing more than to just crawl into bed with his wife. When he landed, he had a text from Lenny explaining how Emily got really worked up while he was away. He was immediately worried about her, and had no doubt in his mind that he would probably be greeted with a little bit of hostility for not calling her.

As he walked into his bedroom he stopped in his treks when he saw Vivienne, Emily and Lenny all cuddled up together in the bed. Aaron knew she hadn't been sleeping well and was so thankful that she looked so peacefully lying there between the two girls who were like her sisters.

He smiled softly at them before leaving the room again. He figured Vivienne and Lenny would wake up looking for extra strong coffee and Emily would be looking for her herbal tea, so he made his way into the kitchen to find some.

"Hi" he heard a soft voice say behind him as he turned around in the hallway to see Emily standing there in her night gown, her hand placed protectively over her stomach.

"Hi" he replied. "Are you mad at me for not calling?" he asked.

"Yeah" she replied simply.

"Can you be mad at me tomorrow instead?" he asked.

"Why?" Emily asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Cause right now, I'd really just like to hold my wife." Aaron responded with a sad look on his face as Emily walked towards him and allowed him to hold her close.

For a moment she managed to forget about the fear and the anxiety of the last few days. She felt safe, secure and loved. She felt sure that he was hers, and he was here to stay. Life wasn't going to be easy, curve balls were going to be thrown their way, but they would tackle things together. _Always._

For now, they wanted to take their moment, as they felt like home to each other and what was more important than that? After all, home is where the heart is.


	30. If I Were a Gambling Man

**If I Were a Gambling Man**

* * *

Emily sighed deeply as she walked into her office on morning. Immediately, she kicked off her kitten heels, sat on the sofa and put her feet on the coffee table. This week marked her third trimester and she was feeling bigger and crampier than ever. Her feet hurt, her back hurt, her boobs ached all day and she struggled to find a comfortable position to sleep in at night. She took up most of the bed and lay with pillows under her expanding belly, between her legs and three behind her head. She felt bad for Aaron, he wasn't exactly a small man and he needed his space on the bed—but at the same time, if she was the one who had to go through the hardship of carrying the baby and labour, she at least deserved whatever space she wanted. Aaron offered to sleep in the spare room, but she insisted she couldn't sleep without him.

Aaron was completely invested in the pregnancy. Every time a new week started he came to her with all that was happening with their baby. This morning as she brushed her teeth, Aaron stood at the door with a baby book in hand.

" _She can taste and smell, and the eyes can produce tears. The bones are almost fully developed though still soft. Weight gain is rapid from now on." He read with a small smile on his face._

" _You mean the weight gain hasn't been rapid before now?" Emily asked as she grabbed the book from him. "Can't wait to see what I'm going to look like at 38 weeks…" Emily said as she looked down at her belly. "I can't see my feet anymore Aaron." She whined._

" _Yeah Shore babies have always been big babies…" Aaron said with a grimace. "I'm sorry you're so uncomfortable right now"_

" _It's ok, it's worth it." Emily said with a wink. "You know what would make me feel better though?"_

" _What?"_

"A foot rub… and a back massage…" Emily said as Aaron chuckled.

" _Your wish is my command…" He said as he took her hand and pulled her back into the bedroom. Before he could try and make her feel more comfortable, his phone buzzed, and he was called immediately into work, but not before leaving his wife with an IOU._

Emily smiled softly when she remembered what would be awaiting her when she got home, but for now, there was paper work to be done and fires to put out. As she moved to stand up and go to her desk, she heard a chuckle at the door and looked up and immediately smiled.

"Only Emily Rhodes could look so fabulous while pregnant." The woman at the door said as she leant against the door frame with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.

"Only a crazy person would let Olivia Reynolds within five feet of the White House." Emily responded with a little laugh.

Liv shook her head; "Get over here you crazy pregnant lady" she said as Emily quickly walked towards her and hugged her close.

Olivia Reynolds had been Emily's best friend when they were kids. They grew up in Connecticut together, being close family friends. When Emily left for school in Washington, Olivia was her confident in all things prep school and the rich elite. Her sound board for when things got a little much.

As they moved into their adult years, they drifted a little as Liv was sent to work in Tokyo, then Sydney as a neo-natal surgeon.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming to Washington?! I didn't realise you were back from Sydney." Emily said as she pulled her friend over to sit on the sofa.

"Well I wasn't going to come but then I heard that a certain friend of mine got herself pregnant and married so I had to see for myself if it was true." Liv said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, the pregnancy was unplanned, and the wedding happened very fast… otherwise I would have had you up there by my side." Emily insisted sincerely.

"Is it Emily Shore now or did you keep your name?"

"Emily Rhodes professionally, Emily Shore personally" Emily told her.

"Well, I never thought I would see the day you would give into Aaron Shore." Liv said with a chuckle. "I've never even met the man and I know how crazy he drove you."

"He still does" Emily joked. "But I drive him crazy too and we're crazy about each other."

"Sounds pretty damn special to me… though I'll never forget when you came home at thanksgiving in our sophomore year and had a few choice words to say about your future husband…"

 _Emily stormed into Liv's house the moment she arrived back in Connecticut. She had been excited to get home for thanksgiving, although sad that she wouldn't see Lenny or Vivienne for a while. That sadness was completely overshined by a run in with Aaron just before she left._

 _She opened the door to her friend's bedroom and Liv's smile immediately fell when she saw the look plastered across Emily's face._

" _Ok… what happened?" Liv asked immediately._

" _Aaron Shore is what happened."_

 _"Do you have a boyfriend?!" Liv asked excitedly as Emily paced in front of her._

 _Emily scrunched up her face; "God no! Aaron Shore is not boyfriend material, he's not even friend material. He is the most arrogant, ignorant human being I have ever met!"_

" _Man… I have never seen you get this worked up about someone before. Who even is this guy?"_

" _He's a senior at school and he's taken a liking to torturing me for the past few months. Telling me that I don't have what it takes to make it in Washington, that I'm only a minor leaguer…"_

 _"Maybe he's jealous?" Liv suggested. "That he sees someone as capable as him."_

 _"He pushed me into the swimming pool!" Emily added._

 _"What?"_

 _"Ok that's maybe not fair, I did… freeze all of his underwear." Emily said as Liv raised her eyebrows._

 _"I have so many questions right now but… honestly Em? I know it's a total clique but maybe he's winding you up because he likes you."_

 _"Oh God Liv, don't even go there."_

 _"All I'm saying is that this mutual hate thing you got going on? That sounds like the start of a really good love story…"_

 _"You suck." Emily said as she flopped down on her friend's bed._

 _"I couldn't quite believe it when you called to tell me you married th_ e boy and are also having a baby." Liv said as Emily rolled her eyes. "If we could have seen the future we would have laughed our heads off in that tiny bedroom of mine."

"Even I will admit that it is completely ridiculous that we got here." Emily confessed. "It's been a very bumpy ride."

"I do take pride that I called it from the start though." Liv said with a giggle.

"And you're definitely not the only one."

"Where is your lover boy anyway?" Liv asked. "All these years and I've still never met him. I mean, the photos of him are very handsome, but I'd like to confirm my suspicions that you married a Greek god in the flesh."

"Oh my god" Emily said with a chuckle and eyeroll; "Please never tell him that, it will go straight to his head. He's in back to back meetings today… but you could help me out with something in the meantime?"

"Sure, what is it?" Liv asked as she and Emily sat down.

Emily rummaged through the papers on the coffee table before lifting a page and handing it to Liv.

"Baby names." Emily said as Liv's smile widened.

"Wow, as flattered as I am, isn't this something you should discuss with Aaron?" Liv asked.

"Yeah this is the list we've wound it down to. We're both being a little stubborn right now and won't concede on the names we really want so we've decided to seek outside approval." Emily explained.

"Like a vote?"

"Yeah like a vote. You'll see the tally of what everyone else has voted for here." Emily pointed as Liv nodded.

"You're going to need more votes to legitimise this poll." Liv informed her.

"I agree, so feel free to walk around the White House and get some opinions."

"Seriously?" Liv said with wide eyes.

"Yeah! I mean, Lenny and Vivienne and George and Warner aren't exactly reliable non-bias parties cause the girls voted for my names and the boys for Aaron's, so we need some impartial ears." Emily added.

"Well, I am happy to help! You can count on me" Liv said as she sprung up from the sofa. "I'll catch you later!" she said as she walked towards the door. "People aren't going to look at me funny, are they? I mean I'm a random woman walking through the West Wing asking for opinions on baby names…"

Emily chuckled; "No one will question it if you keep that visitor's badge on. Everyone's too busy to care."

"Well ok… mission is a go!" Liv said as she happily left the room.

* * *

Aaron had finally finished with his meetings for the day and was on his way back to his office to finish up some paper work before heading home. He had promised Emily a back and foot massage after all.

As he walked past one of the offices, he looked in and did a double take when he saw the flipped white board, with a bunch of people standing around it. His eye widened when he realised what it was a board for.

 _EMILY AND AARON'S BABY BET BOARD_

The top of it read. He ran a hand down his face, curious as to what they could be betting on regarding their baby and concerned that they didn't have anything better to do like I don't know, their jobs.

Aaron was snapped out of staring at the board when he heard Lenny laugh with a bunch of staffers in the room then walk towards the door.

Aaron folded his arms and waited for her to spot him at the door. She didn't see him until she walked right into him.

"Aaron… hi…" Lenny said as the staff worked behind her tried to cover the board and look like they were doing something.

"Lenny…" Aaron said slowly.

Lenny pulled an awkward smile before sighing and dragging Aaron down the corridor.

"I suppose you have some questions…" Lenny stated.

"Just a few"

"Basically, Seth and I thought it would be… fun… so get a little wager going with the staff!" Lenny said hesitantly, hoping Aaron wouldn't be too mad.

"Based on what exactly?"

"Well, whether you're going to have a boy or a girl, Emily's due date and the name! It's a little bit of a shot in the dark on the name front if the baby's a boy but if it's a girl then you're slightly more limited considering you have to name it after Vivienne, and I know Emily's not one to back out of a bet" Lenny said.

Aaron nodded slowly as Lenny smiled sweetly to try and appease Aaron. "What's the prize?"

"We all put $5 in a kiddy and what's a better prize than bragging rights?"

Aaron rolled his eyes before Lenny stopped him in the corridor. "Come on Aaron, we gotta have a little bit of fun around here! You would have been all over this when you were 18."

"I'm not 18 anymore Lenny and neither are you"

"Look, there are always fires to put out around here, always crisis to deal with and Emily needs to be in an environment were people are happy and have something to look forward to at work." Lenny said. "It's super dumb, I know but… what's the harm?"

Aaron sighed; "… there is no harm. I'm not sure Emily's going to take too lightly to her baby being bet on though."

"Are you kidding? She has her old friend Liv walking round the White House taking a poll on your list of baby names. She's taking this even lighter than you" Lenny said with a chuckle.

"Is she now?" Aaron said with a smirk. "She's going to regret that when my names win."

"I don't know Aaron, her names are super cute… do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"No comment."

"Oh my god you do!" Lenny said excitedly. "I can't wait to meet this kid!" she said as she rushed off in the opposite direction. "My money is on a boy that you call Oliver by the way, so don't let me down." She shouted back at him.

"I can't really control that one Lenny" Aaron said with a laugh and a shake of his head.

"Whatever, I know I'm right. Emily has always loved the name Oliver, there's no way you're going to say no to her and have you seen the size of her stomach? No girl baby is that big!" Lenny said as she rounded the corner.

Aaron laughed. Only Lenny would be so far from the truth.

* * *

A short while later, Aaron made his way round to Emily's office and saw her standing at the table over to the side of her room, looking through some papers, in her slippers.

"Comfort first I see?" He said as she leaned against the door frame.

"Always." Emily said with a smirk.

"How were your meetings?"

"Long. I heard your friend Liv is here."

"Yeah! I can't believe you guys have never met, we were basically like sisters growing up." Emily said with a soft smile. "She's taking a poll on baby names for me… mine are going to win."

"I don't know about that one babe" Aaron said with a smug smirk. "Did you know that our staffers are placing bets on our baby and it was all Seth and Lenny's idea?"

Emily chuckled; "I'd heard a rumour, but I hadn't seen anything. Let them have their fun I guess… I don't really have the energy to care either."

"Yeah, Lenny has placed a bet on us having a boy called Oliver."

"Wow, she couldn't be further from the truth" Emily said with a shake of her head.

Her smile suddenly fell from her face as she gripped the chair in front of her.

"Wow, you ok?" Aaron asked as he rushed to her side and steadied her.

"Yeah, I just felt a little dizzy all of a sudden…" Emily said as she walked towards the sofa and sat down on it.

"Finally!" they heard a voice say at the door as they both looked up and saw Liv standing there with a smile on her face. "Aaron Shore, as I live and breathe."

Aaron smirked, "you must be Liv. It's really nice to finally meet you."

"And you, I've heard a lot about you, mostly bad stuff." Liv teased.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Aaron asked raising his eyebrows at Emily who rolled her eyes.

"How did the poll go?" Emily asked as Liv handed her the piece of paper.

"The boys names were a little tighter but there is a clear winner in the girls names…" Liv said.

Aaron looked over Emily's shoulder and he smirked when he saw which name was most popular. "Looks like my favourite name is everyone's favourite."

Emily smiled softly; "Yeah looks like it…"

"You warming up to it any?"

"I didn't want to admit it… but I do like it… a lot…" Emily said slowly.

"My god you are stubborn" Aaron said with a chuckle and a shake of his head.

"I know, but that's why you love me right?"

"Right" Aaron said softly.

Emily sighed; "I need some water" she said as she stood up, but stopped when she immediately felt faint.

"Em?" Aaron asked as he walked round the sofa to face her.

"I uh… I don't feel so hot…" Emily said as Aaron felt her forehead.

"You're burning up…" Aaron said with furrowed eyebrows.

"Yeah I-I—"

Then everything went black.

* * *

 **Don't forget to review...**


	31. Three Problem Day

**Based on 2x09… enjoy!**

* * *

 **Three Problem Day**

* * *

"Aaronnnnnnnn!" Emily whined, sitting up in bed as Aaron got ready for work around her.

"It's not going to work Emily." Aaron said firmly as he did his tie in the mirror.

"But I need to be there."

"No, you need to be here and even if I wanted you to come in there is no way the President would let you."

"Just sneak me in, I'll sit on the sofa all day I promise!"

"Not happening, and don't even think about calling Lenny or Seth to get you in." Aaron said, knowing she was already considering it.

"Fine." Emily huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I feel fine by the way…"

As soon as Emily had fainted yesterday, Aaron rushed her to the doctor's. They ran some tests and told her that the baby was ok, but her blood pressure was too high, probably caused by stress. It was too risky for her to be at work right now, so she was assigned bed rest for the next two weeks and they would reassess after that.

Emily understood, she wanted her baby to be born on time and healthy, but it frustrated her that she couldn't be in work, fighting the fires. She was being stubborn about it, but Aaron was worse.

"You heard the doctor Emily, work is causing you too much stress, you need to put yourself over the White House." Aaron said.

"I never thought I'd ever hear either of us say those words."

Aaron chuckled as he sat down beside her on the bed.; "Me either."

"And I know what the doctor said… nothing matters more than myself and this little girl, so I promise to stay in bed and not think about anything other than the Grey's Anatomy box sets." Emily said as she gave him a soft kiss.

"Are you sure you're going to be ok?" Aaron asked, not feeling entirely comfortable with leaving her on her own. He hadn't left her side since the moment he took her to the hospital.

"I'm a big girl Aaron, you don't need to coddle me 24/7."

"I know, I know… I'll come back at lunch time for a little while, so you don't go completely insane." Aaron told her as he stood up and put his jacket on.

"And I expect good work gossip, or it will have been a completely wasted trip." Emily joked.

"You got it" Aaron replied with a smirk. "Call me if you need anything… even if you need me to come and reach you the remote…"

"Get out of here Shore" Emily said as she threw a pillow at him.

"Ok, ok, I love you" he said as he quickly kissed her head before leaving the bedroom.

"I love you too" she called after him, before settling down into bed with a sigh.

 _This was going to be a long day._

* * *

Within an hour Emily was bored with Grey's Anatomy. She fiddled with everything around her. Her phone, her bump, her wedding rings. She hated not knowing what was going on at the White House. She hated not being busy, she hated not accomplishing anything.

"One little text won't hurt…" she said as she picked up her phone and opened her chat with Lenny.

 _E- Any fires today?_

 _L- None that you need to worry about preggo_

 _E- That doesn't help. Is there seriously nothing I can do from here?_

 _L- Nope. Call you later, drink lots of water!_

Emily groaned and threw her head back on the pillow. If Lenny wasn't going to tell her anything, then no one was. She looked up when she heard a knock at the bedroom door and saw Seth poke his head in.

"Hey" he greeted cautiously.

"Hi friend!" she greeted happily. "Come sit!" she said as Seth chuckled and sat beside her, immediately digging into the snacks around her.

"Sorry to bother you on your bed rest." He said.

"Oh, it's seriously ok, I'm so bored. What brings you by?"

"I wish it was a friendly visit but it's not" Seth confessed. "The president put me on bee patrol for three letter day."

"He cares about bees" Emily informed him.

"He put me on bee patrol with Lyor"

"And you think he's punishing you?" Emily asked.

"There are very few things in life I obsess over, but one of those things is job security. I'm in the doghouse Em. He knows I was arrested, I can see it in the way he looks at me. _He put me on bee patrol with Lyor_."

"Seth—" Emily began.

"I figured I should just offer my resignation, then I'll know where I stand." Seth proposed.

"No, he won't accept it. If he wanted you gone Seth you would be gone. You get one get out of jail free card with him and you just used it. He admires that you stuck up for your family." Emily told him.

"He told you that."

"He doesn't need to. It's my job to know the president and how he thinks." Emily told him.

"If I get fired when I go back this is on you."

"And I will take the hit to our friendship. Now go forth and sin no more." Emily said as Seth took one last handful of chips and got off the bed.

"I am sorry Emily. I'm sorry I put you in a difficult situation, I know it added to the stress that caused you to faint—"

"Seth don't be ridiculous, you did not cause me to faint. My generally high stress life caused me to faint, and it doesn't even matter anymore, we're both fine" she said as she ran a hand down her stomach.

"Good. You know you almost threw our entire baby due date bet thing in work into complete chaos. No one had considered a premature delivery." Seth told her seriously.

"Go tend to your bees Seth." Emily told him with an eye roll.

"Right, sorry, see you later!" he said as he left the room.

Emily smiled. Even from bed rest she was finding a way to help her staff.

* * *

An hour later, Emily groaned when she saw her bag of pretzels was empty. As she moved to get out of bed to locate some more snacks, Lenny came bursting through the door, flopping down on the bed with a sigh.

"Why hello to you too Lenny" Emily greeted.

Lenny rolled over onto her back.

"Aaron told me not to bother you today." Lenny told her.

"Since when do we ever listen to Aaron? What's up?" Emily said as Lenny rolled on her side and looked at her best friend.

"It's not work related"

"Well then Aaron definitely can't be mad."

"It's about George" Lenny said scrunching up her face.

"George? As in our friend George?" Emily asked.

"Yeah. We got in a fight and I think it was… probably my fault…" Lenny confessed.

"Ok, go back to the start."

"Well, George and I have been super close since forever. You know it's always been Emily and Aaron, Vivienne and Warner, Lenny and George. He's like a brother."

"Ok…"

"So he came over the other night just to chill, whatever, and as we were watching the movie, he just blurts out that he's going on a date with Joni Landon!" Lenny said with an outraged look on her face.

Emily scrunched her eyebrows; "Joni Landon? As in the Joni Landon we were at school with?"

"Yes! She was the worst, like _Melissa_ worst, how could he go on a date with her?!" Lenny exclaimed as she stood from the bed and started pacing. "So, yeah I got mad and he stormed out..."

"Maybe she's changed."

Lenny scoffed; "Fat chance, a leopard never changes its spots."

"George isn't an idiot Lenny, I just don't think he would date someone unless he saw something worthwhile there" Emily defended.

"I don't know Em. The years are gaining on him to settle down, maybe he's desperate. Maybe… he sees Vivienne and Warner and Jamie and you and Aaron and the baby and thinks, oh my god, I need to get onto this and fast, so he went for the first girl he could find who was available!" Lenny rambled as Emily looked at her a little dumbfounded.

"Ok Lenny, I'm going to suggest something, and you're not allowed to get mad at me for suggesting this…" Emily started.

"Ok go."

"Do you think, you're really mad about this George thing… because you're… jealous?"

"I don't get jealous."

"You said it yourself, you and George have been so close for so many years, maybe it's starting to become something more on your part"

"You're crazy!"

"You said you weren't going to get mad!"

"Well, I changed my mind!"

"Lenny, you spent years telling me the same thing about Aaron and I, and you were right! So… take your own advice." Emily said softly as Lenny began to calm down.

She sat back down on the bed and looked at her hands.

"I don't know how I feel about him Em… but I do know that when he told me that, my heart sunk a little bit in my chest." Lenny confessed quietly.

"Oh honey…" Emily said as she held onto Lenny's hand.

"I just don't want me saying something to ruin what we have."

"Like I said before, George isn't an idiot. Even if things didn't work out romantically between you two, he would never throw your friendship away and neither would you. You've come too far for that."

"Yeah, you're right… This is weird, me being on the receiving end of romantic advice. It's normally been me coaching you through your latest Aaron dramas…" Lenny teased as Emily lightly smacked her arm.

"Watch it… and all that coaching has helped me coach you. Now, go forth and declare your love for your best friend." Emily said as she snuggled back into bed.

"Later, first I have to deal with my letter of the day" Lenny said as she climbed off the bed. "We miss you in the West Wing you know."

"Thanks… I miss you guys too."

"I'll call you later. Love you!" she said as she left the room.

Emily smiled wider than she had when Seth was here. _Lenny and George. Wow._ She was happy that even from bed rest, she could help her staff and her best friend.

* * *

Aaron had kept true to his word and at lunch time he returned home with a selection of food for Emily.

"I didn't know what you'd want so I got you a bit of everything" he said as he set the bag down beside her and kissed her.

"Thank you handsome." She said as she began looking through the bag. "I know we said we weren't going to talk about work, but you can at least tell me how your day has been…"

"Actually… I need your help with something…" Aaron said reluctantly.

"Oh, you do, do you?" Emily said with a smirk.

"Yeah… can you not be smug about it, please?" Aaron asked.

"Ok, fine… I'll be smug after you tell me what the problem is."

"It's about my letter. This lady, Mrs Goff wants to know why her husband was denied the Medal of Honour for her husband's sacrifice during Operation Enduring Freedom, where he was killed. Turns out, his CO filed a false report claiming that he wasn't there… all because his wife was having an affair with Goff."

"Oh my gosh, that's terrible" Emily said with a deep frown.

"I told Baines to change his statement, recommend Goff for the medal, but he said he would put in everything about the affair."

"And you want me to tell you whether he should submit the statement anyway." Emily concluded.

"Yeah"

"Well I think we can both agree that he should be recognised for his valour" Emily said as Aaron nodded.

"My gut is telling me that medals are for the living, not for the dead, they provide comfort, and all this is going to do is drag up a lot of pain for his wife over his infidelity." Aaron said.

"I'm not sure I agree with that Aaron. These inquiries have a narrow focus to determine the facts on the battlefield. Once you start factoring extraneous personal circumstances into the mix, the medal becomes about those circumstances and I think the greatest gift we could give his next of kin is the truth." Emily reasoned.

"If I died, would you really want to know if I had been cheating on you? Would you really want a tainted memory of me? It's like rubbing salt into the wound."

"I wouldn't want to feel like a foul who loved a man she didn't even really know." Emily said.

"I think we might have to agree to disagree on this one" Aaron said.

"Yeah I think so. You can present both views to the president and see what happens."

"Good idea…" he said as he kissed her hand. "I'm sorry to bring work back here, I know I said I wouldn't…"

"It's ok, I've been solving all kinds of problems today." Emily said with a small smile.

"Who's?"

"I can't tell you"

"Why not?" Aaron said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Because if I tell you, you'll get mad at them for coming to see me when you told them not to…" Emily said, dropping a huge hint with a smirk.

"… Seth and Lenny?"

"Seth and Lenny." Emily confirmed. "Did you know that Lenny likes George?"

"As a person or…?"  
"No stupid, she like-likes him. She freaked out on him about going on a date with Joni Landon."

"I wish I could say I was surprised. She swore that we would get together, I swore that they would get together eventually." Aaron said with a chuckle. "What did you tell her?"

"She spent 14 years telling me to tell you how I felt, so I told her to follow her own advice because… it'll probably turn out to be the greatest thing that ever happened to her." Emily said sincerely as Aaron smiled softly.

"I love you" he said quietly as he kissed her.

"I love you too… now go forth and love me from the White House." She said pushing him off the bed.

Emily smiled wider than she had all day. She was thrilled that even from bed rest, she could help her staff, her best friend and her husband, all while keeping her baby that little bit safer. For the first time that day, she was able to settle down in bed, content with her snacking and TV watching.

* * *

 **So Emily and the baby are fine, but I wouldn't say they were out of the woods yet…**


	32. A Mother's Love

**Based on 2x10 and the next chapter is a continuation on it. It's a little on the shorter side but it's setting us up for the next chapter which is a little longer.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **A Mother's Love**

* * *

A few weeks later, Emily was back on her feet and feeling better than ever. The rest had done her good and she was in much better spirits and condition to continue her job. She was ready to fight the fires the country threw at her every day, and today, the country was throwing an _actual_ fire her way.

While the President had decided to let the fire burn itself out, Aaron had been sent to make sure that the surrounding area was evacuated, but that was proving more difficult than anticipated. A religious group were refusing to leave their cabin—unless baby Grace Morgan was returned to her mother, before a surgery was completed that went against their beliefs.

While Aaron tried to talk them down, he found is difficult to comprehend why these people wouldn't want to save this baby's life. If it was his baby, he would be doing everything he could to protect her and help her.

It was then that Emily insisted on going to speak with Carrie Morgan, Grace's mother. This situation no doubt put Emily in an emotional and vulnerable position. Like Aaron, it made her think about their own baby and how even though Emily was off bed rest, their daughter was still at risk.

But Emily knew this was something she had to confront head on and she knew it was something she could relate to and deal with in a compassionate manner.

"Thank you for agreeing to see me" Emily said as she handed Carrie a drink. "Your daughter is beautiful."

"Thank you. When are you due?" Carrie asked.

"About a month." Emily explained. "Feels like only yesterday I was taking the test."

"I know that feeling. It seems like only yesterday I had one very healthy baby and now suddenly, here she is, so very sick. They say she has tetralogy of fallow. Not enough blood is getting to her lungs, not enough oxygen."

"With open heart surgery, she has a chance."

"That can't happen." Carrie said quickly and suddenly. "The Bible commands us to abstain from blood because only God is the giver of life."

"The Bible also commands us to heal the sick. This would allow her to laugh and to play and to grow up." Emily reasoned. "I have been incredibly stubborn throughout my pregnancy. To the point that my baby was in danger and I know that feeling is not something that a mother should ever have to experience. I was willing to do anything to make sure that she was ok and I know you would do anything to help her breathe—"

"Yes. I would. But it would all be pointless if it violates God's laws. She's in his hands now."

* * *

"Hey" Aaron said softly down the phone, knowing that Emily would be feeling in a vulnerable state right now. Carrie had agreed to allow Grace to have the surgery performed in a way that required no blood transfusions and they were patiently waiting to hear the news.

"Hey. Are you ok?" Emily asked as she stepped out of the waiting room for a moment.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine… you?" Aaron said as he ran his hand down is face.

"I'm a little sad. I'm really trying to be compassionate, but… it's not easy. As a reasonable and open-minded person, I get it, but as a soon to be mother it's difficult to comprehend how this surgery almost didn't happen." Emily replied honestly.

"I know. I almost lost my head at the cabin, I can't imagine being in that position." Aaron agreed solemnly.

"Yeah… only a month till we meet our baby."

"Scary huh?"

"Just a little. We're going to be ok though." Emily insisted.

"I know…" Aaron said as there was a knock at the door and Detective Blakely appeared. "I gotta go, I'll see you when I get back."

"Ok, I love you" Emily responded.

"I love you too."

* * *

After an unfortunate snag in the operation, Carrie agreed to give Grace her blood, and was praying in the chapel ever since. Emily stood at the back of the chapel, unsure what her next move should be. Before high school, Emily's parents had sent her to an all-girls Catholic school. She had never been devout in her beliefs, she struggled to see God in world full of pain. Yet, it was moments like these, moments of desperation that holding onto God was the most important thing they could do.

Emily quietly approached Carrie and sat a few seats down from her. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments, before Carrie was the first to break it.

"You know your Bible well." Carrie said. "Earlier… you quoted Isaiah and you talked about God commanding us to heal the sick."

"I went to Catholic school from 1st to 8th grade. I didn't see God much there… but I saw him in a lot of other places." Emily explained.

"Like where?"

"I saw him when a man as good as Tom Kirkman was made president despite the circumstances. I saw him when he led me to my husband. When he gave us this baby. Right now, I see him very clearly in a mother's love. I haven't even met my baby yet and my heart is already exploding. What you're doing for Grace is the most beautiful thing a mother can do for their child." Emily said with a small smile.

"Thank you. For being here today. I've really appreciated having someone who understands a mother's love as well as accepting my beliefs. I'm not sure Grace would be here without you."

Emily nodded and smiled softly. "You're welcome."

* * *

Carrie soon received the news that Grace has pulled through the surgery and was going to be ok. Emily arrived back to the house that evening with a spring in her step, happy that this little girl would have a chance to experience life to the full, and she got to have a little part in it.

She walked into the kitchen with a smile on her face as she saw Aaron standing by the stove, heating something up.

"Are you cooking?" Emily asked in disbelief as she set her bag on the table and took her coat off.

"I wish I could take credit for this but we both know that's farfetched. Compliments of the White House Chef. Said it was a pregnancy treat for you." Aaron explained as Emily looked over his shoulder at the food.

"It smells amazing, remind me to thank her tomorrow." Emily said. "I'm going to run to the bathroom, this baby has been kicking at my insides all day. Be right back" she said as she gave Aaron a quick kiss on the cheek before walking into the bathroom off the kitchen.

"Did Kirkman go to visit Grace?" Aaron asked through the door.

"Yeah he's there right now" Emily replied.

"That's good. Have you heard anything about Alex's testimony?" Aaron asked, but Emily did not reply. "Emily?" he asked, but again to reply. He walked closer to the door and knocked on it lightly. "Em? Are you ok?" he asked.

The door to the bathroom opened slightly and Emily was pale as a ghost. Aaron's face fell as Emily lifted her hand and revealed it was covered in blood before looking down at her legs to see the blood dripping down.

"Aaron" she said quietly before losing consciousness and passing out in Aaron's arms.

* * *

 **The next chapter was one of my favourite chapters to write and it's titled 'Remarkable People'… stay tuned!**


	33. Remarkable People

**Hi everyone! Thank you all for your reviews.**

 **Orankka- yes I was inspired by the Lucas and Peyton scene in One Tree Hill! You'll probably see some parallels here too!**

 **Like I said at the end of the last chapter, this chapter was one of my favourites to write. I hope you all enjoy.**

* * *

 **Remarkable People**

* * *

Aaron stood in the bathroom of the hospital looking in the mirror, holding himself steady by placing his hands on either side of the sink. The colour had drained from his face and a few of his curls had fallen out of place. What was worst of all was the blood that covered his shirts and his hands. _Her_ blood.

He looked at his palms and couldn't quite believe just how much blood there was. As soon as Emily fell in his arms, he lifted her and drove her straight to the hospital, breaking all sorts of speed limits to get there. He carried her unconscious figure through the ER doors and before he knew it, she was swiftly taken from him and rushed into surgery to deliver the baby and stop the haemorrhaging.

He was alone. Covered in her blood. Not knowing what to do.

He twisted his wedding ring in his fingers for a moment, before taking it off and rinsing it and his hands free of the blood. He couldn't quite comprehend ever having to take that ring off. He promised Emily a forever, and in one swift moment, forever was looking a lot shorter than either of them had hoped.

They had a clear and exciting future ahead of them. They'd only been married a matter of months and their baby was due in a little over a month.

The baby. Their girl. Aaron didn't doubt that she would be delivered tonight. He couldn't wait to meet her. But there was something that felt wrong about her entering the world in such a frenzy, especially when her mother's life was hanging in the balance.

She was supposed to be born when Emily was crushing Aaron's hand in hers, cursing him for putting her in this position. She was supposed to be born when Aaron was standing by Emily's side, taking any abuse she could throw his way, because he loved her so damn much for bringing this little life into the world.

After a few minutes Aaron composed himself and left the bathroom. As he walked back into the ER, he stopped when he saw the people who had been by his side since he was 15 years old. Warner and George were standing behind Vivienne and Lenny as they harassed the nurses for information on their friend's whereabouts. Aaron chuckled lightly. He would expect nothing less of them.

George was the first one to spot Aaron and immediately walked towards him. He didn't say anything. Rather, he just pulled his best friend in for a hug. The other three soon spotted them and immediately joined them for a hug.

The 6 of them had been through so much together—this would be no different. They knew Emily and their baby would come out the other side, strong.

* * *

"Mr Shore, your wife is still in surgery" a doctor told them 45 minutes later. "but we've safely delivered your baby girl. She's a little on the small side because she was early, 5lbs 12oz, but we're confident that she'll make up the weight fast. She's having a little trouble breathing on her own, so we've had to put her on a ventilator, but we're confident that by doing so, her lungs will develop faster and she'll get better quicker. She's in the NICU if you want to meet her?"

"I uh… I shouldn't meet her without Emily. She should meet her mom first…" Aaron said struggling to deal with the mixture of emotions he was feeling a in that moment.

Joy for his little girl. Fear for his wife. Sadness that they hadn't met the instant she came into the world.

"Aaron" Lenny said as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "You need to go see her."

"I can't Lenny, I—it's too hard… it shouldn't be like this, we should be meeting her together, I—"

"I know it's hard, but your little girl needs her father. Emily would kill you if she knew you were just leaving her alone up in the NICU. Go meet your daughter. We'll wait here for any news." Lenny assured him.

Aaron nodded slowly.

"We'll walk with you man" Warner said as he and George lead their best friend towards the elevator.

"Why is this happening Viv?" Lenny asked as Vivienne wrapped her arm around her friend's shoulder.

"I don't know Lenny… I really don't know."

A few minutes later, the boys had made their way round to the NICU.

"She's perfect man…" Warner said as they looked through the glass at baby Shore.

"She looks like Emily" Aaron said quietly.

"Thank god for that" George teased.

"Mr Shore" they heard a voice from the door say. "You can come in and see her if you want?" the nurse told him.

Aaron stood for a second before nodding and allowing the nurse to lead him through the doors. He slowly walked towards his daughter's incubator and looked inside. He took in all her features and realised that his first glance had been correct—she looked just like Emily. Apart from the curly locks that were already growing on her head—that was all him.

He bent down and looked through the side of the crib to get a better look at her. He opened the side door and touched her tiny hand with his finger. It sent a bolt of electricity through his veins. He's never felt such pride and such love.

"Hey little girl…" he said quietly as he continued to run his finger down her hand. "I'm so glad you're here, I've been so excited to meet you. I know you're not too well right now. You're a little small and you're struggling to breathe… but you're a Rhodes-Shore. You're stronger than anything that is thrown your way and… so is your mommy. You're going to be just fine because you have Emily Rhodes as a mom and there is no one better in this world than her. We love you so much and I know she can't wait to meet you."

* * *

A short while later, Emily was in recovery from her surgery. The surgeons managed to stop the bleeding and it looked like there was no permanent damage to her reproductive organs. Emily's parents had already been to see her and the baby, while Aaron made sure Warner and George and Vivienne and Lenny were on baby watch while he was on Emily watch and vise versa.

The following day. Aaron sat by Emily's bed side, holding onto her hand. She still hadn't woken up from her surgery and Aaron was worried. The doctors insisted that her body needed some time to recover from major surgery, and she would wake up when she was ready.

Yet Aaron still felt his world crumbling around him. His wife hadn't woken up, his daughter was on a ventilator and his boss… his boss had just _lost_ his wife. Alex Kirkman had been killed in a motorcade accident and the hearts of everyone in the White House were breaking.

How could this happen? Was it random? Was it a planned hit?

So many questions were swirling, and no one in the White House was there to answer them. The senior staff were grieving for their first lady and they were fearing for their chief of staff.

"I stayed up watching her all night." Aaron said to Emily about their daughter, as she lay peacefully asleep. "Just listening to the machines that are breathing for her, wishing that I was hearing her cries instead. I know she's not technically awake, but she just looked… restless. Like she was missing something. It's like she knew you weren't there. I suppose when you're inside someone for 8 months you grow a bond. She looks just like Em. She's just… so perfect and it's killing me that you're not awake to see her first days. I know I said I would change all of her diapers… but that's the only thing I can do without you. I can't raise her without you. We need you…"

Aaron stopped talking as he lowered his head, holding their hands to his forehead.

"I'm going to hold you to diaper duty…" he heard Emily weakly say as his head shot up to see her barely awake.

"Em" he said quietly.

"Hi" she said in a whisper.

"Oh my god…" He said as he stood and kissed her head, before resting his forehead against hers. "I love, I love you, I love you"

"I love you too… I feel very empty" she said as Aaron sat on the edge of her bed, holding her hand tightly.

"That's cause our daughter is in the NICU."

"Is she ok?"

"She's fine. She's struggling to breathe on her own, so they have her on a ventilator and she's a little on the small side. 5lbs 12oz, but there is no immediate cause for concern. She just needs a little more time to grow."

"I'm sorry I couldn't keep her in there for a little longer" Emily choked out as she allowed her tears to fall.

"Emily no. This is not your fault. This is no one's fault. She's just like her parents, she works on her own time and is terribly impatient" Aaron joked as Emily let out a little laugh. "She's ok Emily. You're ok… our daughter is here."

"Can I see her?" Emily asked.

"The doctor said you can't get out of bed because you've just had major surgery… but I'll see what I can do about sneaking you out." Aaron told her.

"This is why I love you." Emily said with a smirk as Aaron kissed her hand and left the room, to find a way to get her to the NICU.

Eventually, he figured the best way to do it was to just sneak her out. So, he sourced a wheel chair, helped her into it and took her straight there.

"I don't think it'll be too difficult to tell which baby she is. She already has some dark, curly locks." Aaron told her as he pushed her into the room and over to their daughter's cot.

Emily gazed into the incubator and was overcome with emotion. They had made this tiny human and she was so perfect. She couldn't quite believe that her baby was here, curly locks and all.

"She's so perfect"

"I know" Aaron said as he bent down beside her, so they could gaze at their daughter together.

* * *

As soon as Emily had met her daughter and was feeling a little stronger, Aaron had to find it in himself to tell her about Alex. Emily was heartbroken. She struggled to comprehend that a day filled with so much joy, could also be one of so much sorrow.

She wanted to speak with Tom more than anything, but she couldn't move in her current state, yet a few days after she had woken and after their daughter had been taken off the ventilator as she could breathe on her own, they were shocked when Tom walked into the NICU, stuffed animal in hand.

"Mr President" Emily said quietly, unsure what to say to the man who has been like a father to her.

"Emily. Congratulations. She's beautiful." Tom said as he peered at the baby in the incubator.

"Thank you. Mr President I am… so, so sorry for your loss."

"Thank you, Emily. That means a lot. This uh… this was the toy Alex had picked out for your little girl, I thought I would bring it along today." Tom said as he handed it to Emily.

"You didn't have to come here Mr. President—" Aaron began. No one really knew what the correct thing to say was.

"I wanted to. New life… is a wonderful thing and we were all so excited for your baby to arrive. Nothing should change that."

"You must be the most selfless man I have ever met" Emily said quietly.

Tom merely gave the faintest of smiles. "Have you decided on a name yet?"

Aaron looked down at Emily, who nodded at him before looking back down at her daughter.

"We've decided to name her Alexis… Lexie for a nickname." Aaron explained as Tom felt the warmest twinge in his heart.

"We want to honour the most remarkable woman that we know would have adored our daughter and Lexie would have adored her too." Emily added.

"That's—wow. Thank you. Thank you very much. Can I…" he said as he pointed towards Lexie.

Emily nodded as she moved out of the way so Tom could see her. Tom stared down at the little girl in wonder. She was so small and innocent and perfect. He wished more than anything that Alex was standing beside him for this, but he felt her presence and her comfort as he watched her namesake. He opened the side door of the incubator and ran his finger along Lexie's tiny hand as she slept.

"Hey Lexie… it's uncle Tom. I've been very excited to meet you. You are just so beautiful huh? So very beautiful. Let me tell you something… you are so very lucky to have these two remarkable people as your parents. They are going to love you so much and I'm so excited to see it. Welcome to the world Lexie Shore. Welcome to the world." Tom said as he allowed a tear to escape.

Amid the darkness, a little light shone in the form of a perfect little baby. Alexis Vivienne Shore was the greatest blessing anyone in the White House could have asked for in that moment. While things would always be difficult. While Tom Kirkman would always grieve for his wife, her namesake was beginning a bold and beautiful adventure. One that Alex would have beamed at with pride.


	34. Jinxed

**Thank you all for your reviews! I'm so glad you liked the chapter.**

 **Emily and Aaron face the struggles of a new born in this chapter...**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Jinxed**

* * *

Emily and Aaron lay on their sides, staring down at the baby that lay in between them, fast asleep. Lexie had spent three weeks in the hospital before being allowed home, and now at 8 weeks old, she was thriving. She was fascinated by her surroundings and her parents could see the light in her eyes when she spotted something new. She had also recently discovered her limbs and would wave them around like crazy, which made diaper duty all the more interesting.

What Emily and Aaron loved the most, apart from her dark locks that were already beginning to curl, was the smile that graced Lexie's face when she saw one of her parents or heard their voice. Her toothless grin melted their hearts and they were completely captivated by her.

Aaron found it especially difficult leaving his girls after a couple of weeks to get back to work. Kirkman had insisted that he take as much time as he needed, but both Emily and Aaron agreed that if Emily couldn't be at the White House right now, Aaron needed to be, especially in the wake of the first lady's death.

"Look at her little nose"

"And her lips"

"My god, those eyelashes, I would kill for eyelashes like that"

"And her hands in little fists like that"

"She's a strong girl already"

Emily and Aaron often spent their Sunday afternoons like this. Lexie would lie asleep in the middle of the bed and they would lie on their sides, staring down at her, talking about how perfect she was. She rarely gave them any trouble. She slept when she was supposed to sleep, ate when she was supposed to eat and her cries were not difficult to sooth. It almost seemed too good to be true.

While Emily missed work, she loved being at home with her daughter, watching the little changes she went through every day. They had their own little routine that began in her nursery. While she was still sleeping in Emily and Aaron's room for the time being, they still used it for diaper changes, dressing her and showing her some picture books before rocking her to sleep in the rocking chair.

The Monday morning of Lexie's 8th week of life, began like it always did. Aaron woke up with her before he got ready for work, fed her, burped her and changed her diaper, allowing Emily to sleep for that little bit longer. Her then put her down for her morning nap before leaving for work.

Emily was then able to wake up with her and follow the same routine Aaron had a few hours earlier. As Emily changed Lexie that morning, she heard someone come bundling up the stairs.

"Hola!" Lenny said as she burst into Lexie's nursery, sun hat and sunglasses still on, looking tanned and radiant.

"Hola to you too." Emily said with a laugh and a shake of her head. "Auntie Lenny is crazy, isn't that right Lex?" Emily said down to the little girl as she lightly tickled her baby.

"Yes, Auntie Lenny may be crazy but she is also an _excellent_ friend and godmother who brought home _excellent_ gifts from her holiday." Lenny said as she lifted her bags.

"Did you have a nice time with George in Spain?"

"Oh my god it was amazing. I didn't want to leave." Lenny said as she sat in the armchair in the corner of the room. Lenny had taken Emily's advice when she was on bed rest and told George how she felt, and he immediately told her he felt the same way. They had been living in bliss since and their recent adventure had been to Spain for two weeks.

"You know what the best thing about being with George is?"

"What?"

"It's fun. It's just— _so much fun._ " Lenny said with a sincere and bright smile.

"I'm really happy for you guys." Emily said, happy to see her best friend so happy.

"Thanks Em. But onto more important things, how is my beautiful goddaughter?" Lenny asked as she stood from the chair and lifted Lexie off the changing table once Emily had finished with her.

"She's good"

"I mean, have you ever seen a prettier baby? Seriously, how is this possible?" Lenny said as she gazed down at the little girl in her arms, who gazed back in wonder at her godmother.

"I know I'm bias but… it's totally true" Emily said. "She is the definition of perfect."

"She's perfect because you had such a rough time with the pregnancy. A perfect baby is your reward for being a trooper." Lenny insisted. "How are you feeling anyway?"

"I feel much better. I think it'll probably take me a little longer to feel 100% considering I have an infant to look after too but I'll get there. My scar is healing nicely and I more or less have full ability to move." Emily replied. "And Aaron has been so great, seriously, he comes home from helping run the government and tells me to go straight to bed, he'll tidy up around the house. Then he gets up with Lexie every time she cries during the night and he's first up with her in the morning—"

"Wow, some people might actually think he loves you and his daughter" Lenny replied sarcastically as Emily smirked and rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious, we're very lucky girls." Emily said as she ran her finger down Lexie's cheek.

"Ok, we get it, your life is like something out of a Hallmark movie" Lenny teased. "But I'm glad you two are both doing better and I'm glad this little angel really is a little angel."

**1 week later**

"Oh my god why won't she stop crying" Emily said as she collapsed on the sofa and hid her face in her hands.

"There is definitely some irreversible damage being done to my ears right now" Aaron said as he continued to rock Lexie, but her wails persisted.

"I think I spoke to soon when I said she was perfect. I jinxed us." Emily said with a sigh.

"It's ok, we barely sleep anyway with work, why should having a baby be any different?" Aaron reasoned. "At least she's even cute when she cries…" he added.

Emily chuckled lightly. "Small mercies. I know babies are supposed to cry, to be honest, I was worried when she wasn't crying a lot at the start, but this is _insane_. Are they supposed to cry this much?"

"I don't know. Maybe she'll tire herself out?"

"Parenting 101 from Aaron Shore." Emily said with an eye roll as she stood up and walked towards them. She wasn't about to let her 8 week old baby cry herself to sleep.

"Well, what do you suggest?" Aaron asked as Emily ran her hand over Lexie's head and sighed.

Before she could suggest anything, there was a knock at the door and Emily and Aaron looked at each other with confused expressions.

"It's 3am. Who is here at 3am?" Emily asked as she left the living room with Aaron close behind.

She opened the door to reveal Seth with an awkward smile on his face.

"Seth… what are you doing here?" Emily asked.

"I was just leaving work and I was going to stick these files through the letter box for Aaron to scan over but then I heard some sensational wailing coming from the house so I thought I'd better check you guys hadn't completely lost your minds." Seth said as Emily stepped aside and allowed him into the house.

"I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of this crying cycle, _I_ break down into an uncontrollable wailing cycle." Emily said as Seth looked at her sympathetically.

"Sometimes I think you should get a manual with babies." Seth said as he motioned for Aaron to hand Lexie to him, which he gladly did. "At least she's still cute."

"Yeah" Emily and Aaron said at the same time as they collapsed on the sofa.

"You know, I used to babysit a lot in high school for my cousins." Seth said as he rocked Lexie gently. "My family used to call me the baby whisperer"

Emily scrunched up her face; "The baby whisper? Why did they call you the—" Emily began, but she soon noticed, there was silence.

Aaron's sat up straighter a few moments later, realising the silence himself. "Have I gone deaf?"

"I'd forgotten what silence was like." Emily added as they both turned around and saw Lexie fast asleep in Seth's arms.

"You did it" Aaron said in a whisper. "How?"

"I don't really know, babies have always loved me." Seth said with a shrug.

"Can we keep you?" Emily asked desperately as Seth chuckled; "I think we need a baby whisperer far more than the White House needs a press secretary."

"You guys are doing better than you think. Parenting is hard, but you're Aaron Shore and Emily Rhodes for crying out loud, if you can run a country, you can raise a kid." Seth said as he handed Lexie back to Aaron. "Now, it's 3am, and my bed is calling me. If she cries again, the sound of the extractor fan above the cooker or the washing machine always helped my cousins. See you guys."

Seth quietly left the house as Emily and Aaron walked back into their bedroom. Emily climbed straight into bed and Aaron wasn't far behind her after putting Lexie into her bassinet. They lay on their backs and stared at the ceiling for a moment.

"Do you think Seth's right?" Emily asked quietly.

"Yeah, I mean… surely running a country is more difficult than raising a kid and we can do that pretty well." Aaron justified, to himself more than anything.

"But that's what we're comfortable with. We are so not in our comfort zone right now Aaron and I really don't want to screw this up. What kind of mother can't stop her own baby from crying?" Emily asked.

"Hey, do not beat yourself up about this. Babies cry, we're definitely not the only parents on the planet with a crying baby. I know you're a bit of a perfectionist, but there is no way to be a perfect parent. I mean you're pretty damn close…" Aaron joked as Emily silently laughed. "We're going to have good days and we're going to have bad days but we'll always make it to the end. A day at a time Rhodes. We're going to be ok."

* * *

The following Sunday, Emily stirred awake and took a second to gather her thoughts and surroundings. She took in the silence and her eyes widened.

"Aaron… Aaron wake up." Emily said quickly.

"What?" He mumbled.

"Lexie" Emily simply said as she sat up in bed and Aaron groggily sat up beside her.

"What about her?" he asked as he rubbed his eyes to wake himself up.

"She's not crying… and we're sleeping." Emily said, hoping Aaron would quickly catch on.

They looked at each other for a brief moment, before quickly scrambling out of the bed and running out of the room. They ran into Lexie's nursery and saw that she wasn't there.

"She's not there. I knew we shouldn't have put her in the nursery last night" Emily said frantically as they both ran downstairs.

"She hasn't just vanished Emily—"

"Oh my god what if someone kidnapped her?!" Emily said frantically as they ran down the stairs.

Before Aaron could tell her that was crazy, they stopped in their quick dash when they saw Emily's mother standing in the kitchen, cooking breakfast.

"Mom?" Emily asked as Aaron rubbed his eyes once more to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"Hi honey!" Karen greeted as she continued to cook.

"When did you get here?"

"Oh a few hours ago, I just took the spare key from under the pot and let myself in." Karen explained happily.

"Where is Lexie?" Aaron asked.

"Over there on her play mat" Karen motioned as they turned around and saw Lexie lying right beside them in front of the sofa, babbling away to herself. "She and I have had the most fabulous morning together. Aaron honey, watch those pancakes." Karen said as she handed Aaron the spatula and went to pick up her granddaughter.

"Did I have a mind lapse and forgotten I'd called you or something?" Emily asked as she ran her hand across her forehead.

"No, but you rang Peter and asked him how he soothed his kids when they wouldn't stop crying and he rang me." Karen explained.

"Of course he did." Emily replied.

"Your brothers will always look out for you." Karen said with a wink. "I figured I would let you two have a nice Sunday to yourself and Lexie and I could have a Nana and granddaughter day."

"You don't have to do that mom…" Emily said.

"Em, you have always been fiercely independent and liked to do everything yourself, which you and Aaron have been doing for the past 10 weeks and I am so proud of you. This little girl is the most precious little girl on the Earth and I know how much you adore her and how much she adores you." Karen said softly. "What you need to realise is that you have a whole lot of people around you who are willing to give you a little bit of light relief every now and again. A group of people who are going to love your daughter a hell of a lot. So, let them help you out. You won't regret it."

Emily smiled softly; "I suppose an extra hour in bed would be quite nice…"

"That's my girl. Now go. You too Aaron, I'll deal with the pancakes." Karen said.

"Yes ma'am." Aaron said as he wrapped his arm around Emily's waist and dragged her upstairs before she could butt into her mother's time with Lexie anymore.

"We have some pretty awesome people in our lives huh?" Emily said as they walked up the stairs, thinking about the support she had from her parents, her brothers and her closest friends.

"Oh yeah." Aaron said as he kissed her head, thankful that they could muddle through the challenges of parenthood together and with the people they loved surrounding them.


	35. Date Night

**Date Night**

* * *

"Ok, I pumped some milk, it's in the fridge so just heat it up if she gets hungry, make sure you test it on your skin first." Emily instructed to Lenny as she rushed around the living room making sure that everything Lenny would need to look after Lexie for the evening was there.

"Ok" Lenny replied simply as she cooed at the little girl in her arms.

"There are extra pacifiers in the top drawer of the chest of drawers in her room. She should be tired she refused to nap today so hopefully she'll just sleep the whole time. If she's crying hysterically, make sure she has that purple blanket she's obsessed with and she loves that bear Tom brought to the hospital for her and for some reason the washing machine—"

"—soothes her, I know, and if that doesn't work, call Seth the baby whisperer." Lenny said, finishing Emily's sentences.

Emily sighed; "Right. I'm being a crazy new mom, aren't I?"

"You are being a perfectly normal mom who is nervous about leaving her baby for the first time."

**Two Nights Ago**

Emily and Aaron lay on their backs in their bed, staring at the ceiling. Emily rested her hand across Aaron's chest as he played with her fingers, resting his other hand behind his head. They had just managed to get Lexie to go to sleep and now _they_ couldn't sleep, as they were anticipating her waking up and screaming to be fed again.

"We used to be fun." Emily said absentmindedly.

"We're still fun—" Aaron tried to reason.

"No, we're definitely not. We used to go to the 9.30 club and see Elvis impersonators, we used to go to bars and drink with our friends, we used to play dumb pranks on each other… we used to have _sex- all the time."_ Emily rhymed off as Aaron groaned. "We can't become those people Aaron. We can't become the parents who forget to have a life outside of their baby."

"You're right." Aaron agreed.

"She is the most perfect little girl, we are both completely infatuated with her, but we can't forget that we're infatuated with each other."

Aaron turned his head to look at his wife; "We should have a date night."

"Yes. That's good, date night." Emily agreed as she also turned to look at him. "This Thursday, leave work early, granted there is no immediate crisis, and we'll go on date night. You can pick where we go."

"Fine, but you're not allowed to moan about where I pick."

Emily widened her eyes in disgust; "I would never moan."

"Whatever you say honey." Aaron said as he kissed her hand.

"Yeah. Exactly what I say." Emily said as she rolled on her side. "And about the sex thing…" she said as she leant forward to kiss him. They were a breath apart when they heard the piercing cry of their daughter through the baby monitor.

Emily groaned and rolled onto her back as Aaron sat up and got out of bed.

"To be continued" he said as he walked to his daughter's bedroom.

***

"I mean, I know I've been out without her before, but it's been to run minor errands and she's always been left with Aaron, but this time, it's both of us and it's just weird and… I worry. It's my job to worry in the White House and now it's my job as a mother to worry—" Emily rambled.

"Emily, you're rambling." Lenny said as Aaron walked into the room, fixing the buttons on his shirt.

"You ready?" he asked his wife as he picked up her coat and handed it to her.

Emily sighed and took the coat from him and put it on.

"Aaron, maybe we should just stay—" Emily began.

"Nope." Lenny answered for them as she cradled Lexie in one arm and pushed Aaron and Emily into the hallway and towards the front door. "I don't want to see either of you until after 11pm, preferably with a 'we just got it on in a public place' glow about you."

"oh my god" Emily said with an eyeroll as she lifted her bag from the cabinet in the hall.

"You guys may be parents, but you are not boring. Live a little." Lenny said as she opened the front door and pushed Emily and Aaron out it.

* * *

"So, what do you have planned for me?" Emily said as she linked her arm through Aaron's as they walked down the streets of Washington.

"Well, the other night you said we were once fun, particularly in high school and college, so it got me thinking, what did we do that was so fun?"

"And what did you come up with?" Emily asked.

"This" he said as he stopped outside a gate and opened it, "After you" he said allowing her to walk through with a curious smirk on her face.

Emily walked down the path that was dimly lit before stopping at the end and smiling as she realised where she was.

"Oh my gosh… I completely forgot this place existed." Emily said as Aaron joined her. He had brought her to an old basketball court they used to come to when they were in college and it came with a lot of memories.

"Me too if I'm honest." Aaron replied as he walked in front of her and towards a picnic bench at the opposite side of the court. He lifted a bag that was sitting under it, lifting out a basketball and bouncing it to her.

She caught it expertly and moved it around in her hands.

"The fun thing I remember us doing… was strip basketball." Aaron said with a smirk that Emily cheekily returned.

"Very bold Shore" Emily said as she bounced the ball back to him.

**12 years ago**

 _Emily was sitting in her dorm room finishing off some assignments before the winter break. It had been a fun semester, but it had also been a challenging one and she was looking forward to unwinding._

 _As she finished up the last sentence of her essay, there was a knock at her door and she stood to answer it._

 _As she flung open the door, she was greeted with Aaron Shore's smirk._

 _"Aaron. Hey" Emily said, surprised to see him._

 _"Hey. You busy?" he asked._

 _"I just finished an assignment so not anymore. What's up?" she asked as she leaned against the door frame._

 _"I'm leaving tomorrow. For my internship in New York." Aaron reminded her. It seemed like only yesterday they were having a discussion about it at her brother's wedding._

 _"I know. The whole of Georgetown is in mourning" Emily teased._

 _"Funny." Aaron responded as Emily giggled lightly. "You want to do something fun?"_

 _Emily eyed him quizzically; "Why would you want to spend your last night in college with me?"_

 _"George and Warner are planning a big party at our house and I think I'd like to avoid the chaos and destruction for as long as possible." Aaron informed her._

 _"Fair enough. I'm in" she said as she grabbed her coat from the back of her desk chair and left the dorm room with Aaron._

 _A short while later, they were walking the streets of Washington and Emily smirked when she realised the familiar route he was taking her._

 _"Are we going to the basketball court?" Emily asked. They used to go there all the time with their friends in high school._

 _"I am. Figured we could play a little one on one" Aaron said as they walked through the gate and onto the court._

 _"I'm surprised you're game for having your ego damaged by a loss just before you go." Emily teased._

 _"You can keep dreaming there Rhodes." Aaron said as he bounced the ball towards her._

 _Emily contemplated the game for a minute, before a mischievous smirk rose on her face. "How about we make a little interesting?"_

 _"How so?"_

 _Emily bounced the ball back to him before putting her hands on her hips; "Strip basketball"_

 _Aaron raised his eyebrows. Never in a million years did he think he'd hear the words 'strip basketball' coming out of Emily Rhodes' mouth._

 _"Em… if you wanted to see me naked, all you had to do was ask." Aaron teased_

 _Emily scoffed and rolled her eyes; "You can keep dreaming there Shore. Come on! Live a little."_

 _"You don't have to ask me twice."_  
**

"You are the one who suggested it the first time" Aaron reminded her.

"I know I am but I'm not quite in the same shape as I was when I was 19. You on the other hand, you've never been in better shape." Emily reminded him.

"Emily." Aaron said raising her eyebrows at him. "Before Lexie, you ran every day and you and I both know you've already lost all the weight you put on with Lexie because you keep a good diet."

"You have to say that" Emily said with a pout.

"I don't have to say anything. You're beautiful." Aaron insisted as Emily blushed.

"… I do love strip basketball." Emily said as Aaron bounced the ball back to her with a triumphant smile. "Though, if you wanted to see me naked Aaron, all you had to do was ask." She teased, using his words from all those years ago.

A short while later, they were lying on the ground in just their underwear, laughing like they were 19 again.

"I've missed this." Emily confessed when the giggling stopped. "I've missed the time we used to spend just being us. Not senior staff to the president or parents. Just… Aaron and Emily Shore."

"Me too."

"But… I do really miss our little girl." Emily confessed.

"Me too" Aaron said with a soft smile. "I know it's hard, and we really needed tonight, but I wouldn't trade those 3am feeding and explosive diapers for anything in the world."

"Absolutely" Emily said with a chuckle. "Let's get back to our girl."

"Yeah, but first… I believe there's one more thing we have to do" Aaron said as he rolled over and rested his hands on either side of Emily's head.

Emily closed her eyes and smiled widely; "You're crazy"

"Crazy in love…" he said as their noses grazed.

Emily closed the gap between them and kissed him with all that was in her, allowing them to just be Emily and Aaron Shore for one night.

* * *

A short while later, the pair arrived home giggling as Aaron stood behind Emily and kissed down her jaw. Lenny soon came out into the hallway and smirked as she crossed her arms.

"Damn, I'm impressed, you managed to stay out past 11pm and you're getting on like horny teenagers. Good work." She said with a wink.

"Hi Lenny" Emily greeted as she and Aaron took their coats off. "How was your night?"

"Great. Just watched some TV. Lexie has been sleeping this whole time." Lenny informed them.

"Of course she sleeps for you but not for us" Aaron said.

"You two are a right pair you know." Lenny said as they walked back into the living room.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked.

"Well, you're a nervous mom before you've even left the house, and Aaron, you're a nervous dad when you're out of the house. I thought I was going to have to block your number you texted me that many times to check on Lexie." Lenny said with a chuckle.

Emily looked at Aaron with a shocked look on her face. "You've been texting Lenny all night?"

Aaron put his hands on his hips ready to defend himself; "I was just checking in, I know she's been a little weird about being with people other than me and Emily-"

"Alright psycho dad, these 22 texts, are being deleted." Lenny said as she flashed her phone at him. "I can't wait to see what you're like when she starts dating."

"She's 10 weeks old Lenny, let's not give me a headache already." Aaron said as he left the room.

Emily chuckled and shook her head at her husband, already anticipating his protective dad mode.

"So, you had fun tonight then?" Lenny asked.

"Yeah, it was great. Just… being us again. We missed Lexie though." Emily told her truthfully.

"I'm not so sure you'll be saying that when you have to feed her at 3am, but the thought was there." Lenny said as she hugged her friend. "Get some rest!"

"We will. Thanks for babysitting Len."

"Anytime. Night!" Lenny said as she left the house.

Emily turned everything off downstairs before making her own way upstairs, excited to get into bed and sleep. She stopped by Lexie's nursey and smiled when she saw Aaron staring at their daughter while she slept.

She approached him and wrapped her arms around his, resting her cheek on his shoulder.

"She looks like an angel" Aaron whispered as they watched their baby peacefully sleep.

"She's perfect" Emily responded, as they gazed upon their daughter for a little while longer.


	36. Only in Sleep

**Hi everyone! I'm so glad Designated Survivor is back, it's been far too long… I've had some ideas for chapters roaming around in my head for a while now, but I wanted to see how the first episode played out before I dived into them.**

 **So here we are! This chapter is based on 2x11… enjoy!**

* * *

 **Only in Sleep**

* * *

10 weeks. 10 weeks not in the White House. 10 weeks not running things. 10 weeks sitting at home, looking after her baby. Emily Rhodes was fed up. She loved Lexie, every time she looked at her she was filled with immense gratitude and joy. She'd make a face or a noise at her mother and all Emily could do was smile in wonder at her perfect little baby.

Aaron swore that Lexie got more and more beautiful every day. Her big brown eyes and long eyelashes were captivating and that fresh baby smell meant people struggled to put her down.

But Emily? She was bored. She needed to get back to work. She knew she should rest for another few weeks and she knew if Aaron caught her in the White House, he would be mad, but she figured today was the perfect day. Aaron was going to Cuba, so she could sneak in and out with no issue. He'd never know.

Problem was, Lexie was going through a phase. She screamed her little lungs out every time someone put her down in her crib or car seat, so Emily was having to carry her all day around the house and when Aaron came home, he took a shift.

After a screaming car journey to the White House, Emily immediately lifted Lexie into her arms, grabbed her baby bag and walked into the White House. She looked down at Lexie and smiled when she saw how captivated she was with her new surroundings.

"Yeah baby, this is where mommy and daddy work." Emily said as she softly ran her finger down the little girl's button nose.

As she rounded the corner she bumped straight into Seth, who eyed her curiously.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm not here." She replied quickly.

"I mean—I can see you. You're standing right in front of me—" Seth said, not catching onto what Emily was trying to say.

"I'm not supposed to be here, meaning I'm not actually here. I just needed to see how things were going, so—please don't tell Aaron." Emily pleaded.

"Tell Aaron what?" she heard a familiar voice behind her say as she cringed and turned around to reveal her husband with his arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

"Hi honey" Emily greeted with a smile.

"Hi" he replied. "What are you doing here Em?" Aaron asked with a disapproving tone.

"I figured it would be good for me to get out of the house a little. Move around. Plus, Lexie has been dying to see around the White House—"

"She's 10 weeks old." Aaron reminded her. "All she's interested in is your boobs"

"Aaron, please…" Emily said as she swatted her husband in the stomach.

"She still not letting you put her down?" Aaron asked as he ran his hand over Lexie's tiny head.

"Nope. My arms are already a little bit dead, but I'm sure people are going to be wanting cuddles at some point" Emily pointed out.

"She is adorable" Seth confirmed.

"I know, I can't get enough of this little nugget" Emily said as she cradled her daughter closely.

"You're trying to change the subject—" Aaron stated before Seth interrupted him.

"Well, I personally, am glad you are here." Seth said. "I'm getting a lot questions that I don't have the answer to and apparently neither does Darryl—" Seth said, referencing the deputy chief of staff who had been filling in for Emily.

"Well I'm here now—"

"Emily—" Aaron warned.

"Aaron, it's fine, I'm fine, we're fine. It's one day!"

"One day that I'm just going to spend worrying about you."

"If you get to go to Cuba, then I get to spend the day in the White House." Emily said as she narrowed her eyes.

"… one day." Aaron said firmly.

"Ok, mom" she said as she stuck out her tongue.

Aaron was about to respond when Hannah called his name and approached the trio.

"Sorry to interrupt—oh is this Lexie?" Hannah asked as she looked at the baby in Emily's arms.

"Yeah, this is her." Emily said with a proud smile.

"She's beautiful." Hannah said with a sincere and warm smile. "And you have a new mom glow"

"I appreciate you lying, but I look and feel like death." Emily said with a snigger.

"No, seriously, you look great. Aaron on the other hand—he looks likes death. You need a proper night's sleep man." Hannah teased.

Aaron sighed; "Try having a baby that doesn't like to be put down Hannah, then get back to me on getting a proper night's sleep."

Aaron kissed Emily quickly before leaning down and kissing Lexie; "Bye sweetie" he cooed at her. "I'll call you later"

"Ok" Emily said as he and Hannah went into his office.

"So, what's first on the agenda chief?" Seth teasingly asked as Emily smirked and strided towards her office.

* * *

A short while later, Emily was sitting at her desk looking through some papers while Lenny bounced Lexie around the room.

"I'm so glad Lexie's here… and you of course." Lenny quickly added onto the end as Emily chuckled.

"Thanks Len. Aaron was not happy about it."

"He's worried about you. A C-Section is a major surgery, especially with all the bleeding you endured. He just wants you and Lexie to be healthy and—"

"I know Lenny, but you know how I feel about being coddled. I'm fine, Lexie's fine—as long as you don't put her down." Emily added.

"Think of it this way, you're going to have killer biceps." Lenny said with a smirk.

"I mean—" Emily said as she started to laugh. Before she could finish, Lyor bombed into the room. "Lyor, what—"

"You're needed in PEOC." Lyor said swiftly.

"What's going on?"

"It's Aaron." Lyor said as Emily's face fell, and she ran out of the room, leaving a confused Lenny and a silent Lexie behind.

* * *

" _The United States once supported the Cuban people and their democratic aspirations. But now President Kirkman props up a brutal and corrupt regime. The price for this treachery is $500 million by tomorrow at 2.00pm or the delegation of traitors will be executed."_

Emily's eyes stung with tears, as she took a deep breath. Willing herself not to lose it in that moment. Every part of being ached at the thought of what could happen to Aaron. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to do. The next few minutes felt like a blur as the president spoke with the president in Cuba and his military leadership.

The last thing she heard was Tom asking for all available options on his desk as soon as possible. When he turned around he came face to face with an anxiety ridden Emily.

"Emily—"

"This is my husband, Mr President. The father of my daughter—" Emily began as her voice broke.

"We will get him back. I promise. For now, you should take Lexie home and—"

"All due respect sir, I'm not going anywhere. Not until we get him back. _Safe_." Emily said firmly as she turned and left the PEOC.

* * *

That night, Emily sat on the sofa in her office, nursing Lexie to sleep. She gently moved her back and forth while running her finger gently down her nose and singing to her softly.

" _Only in sleep can time be forgotten. What may come to them, who can know? —"_

Soon enough, Lexie drifted into a peaceful sleep, as Emily continued to hum to her. Partly to keep Lexie asleep, partly to keep herself calm.

Emily was a problem solver. She was a fixer. Yet she felt helpless in fixing this. She had sat in all of the meetings, not saying anything, she had watched the drone go down and didn't say anything. But what was she supposed to say? Her husband was being held hostage. How was she supposed to process that?

She heard a light knock at the door and saw Lenny standing there.

"I forgot you were such a beautiful singer." Lenny commented, remembering that Emily had been part of the choir in high school.

"It only really comes in useful for singing this little nugget to sleep" Emily said. "I can't take my eyes off her. I'm worried if I do something with happen—"

"What happened to Aaron was out of your control—"

"Yet bringing him back should be in my control. It's my job but I—I can't process a single thought about this."

"No one is asking you to. I know you think it's your job to come up with a solution, but it's not. Not for something so personal. You need to keep your head out of the job, out of these responsibilities you think you have. They are null and void right now—"

"I'm so tired Lenny. I'm so tired but I can't fall asleep because I can't put her down and I'm scared that if something happens to him and I'm asleep—"

Lenny quickly sat down beside her friend and took Lexie out of her arms. "Sleep Em. Everything will be ok." Lenny assured her as Emily rested her head on Lenny's lap and allowed a few stray tears to fall down her cheeks.

She couldn't lose him. It took them so long to get here. _She couldn't lose him._

* * *

The next day, Emily put Sasha on babysitting duties and got to work. She wasn't going to sit around and wait for something to happen. For the president to stop taking a lenient stance. Despite Lenny and Seth's protests, she talked, she negotiated, she worked out Hannah was signalling them, she pushed and pushed until they administration got news of the return of the delegates to US soil.

Emily continued to walk around the White House like a ghost. People praised her as she walked through the hallways for the work they did on getting this administration running again. But she was entirely unresponsive. She had been holding it together for the past few days, but she felt like at any second she might break.

She turned the corner facing the entrance to the west wing and saw a dishevelled Aaron walking through the door. She froze on the spot. Her legs felt like jelly as she saw her person walking towards her. His normally perfect curls were out of place, his shirt was dirty, and he looked even more tired than he had before he left.

When he noticed her standing at the end of the corridor, he stopped in his tracks and gulped. When he was out there, Emily and Lexie were constantly on his mind. What would happen to them if something happened to him? But he was standing in the White House, facing the source light in his life. He was here. He was ok. He felt like he was about to break too.

"Hi" he whispered as he felt tears sting his eyes.

"Hi" Emily said as she closed the gap between them and jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and burying her face in the crook of his neck, as he held her tightly, never wanting to let her go.

"I'm so sorry—"

"No, don't. Don't do that." Emily quickly responded. "You're here. _You're here."_

* * *

 **A/N: The title of this chapter and the song Emily sings to Lexie is called Only in Sleep and it is stunning. Trinity College Cambridge's choir have a beautiful rendition on YouTube. Check it out!**


	37. Adventure Time

**Lexie goes on a little adventure in this chapter… enjoy!**

* * *

 **Adventure Time**

* * *

A little over a month had passed since Aaron's return from Cuba, and Emily was getting ready for her first official day back at work. While she was excited to get back, she was nervous about leaving Lexie when she was still so young. She knew normal mothers would take much longer than 18 weeks off after having a baby, but she was no normal mother. She was one of the highest officials in the White House and she had an important job to do.

She assessed her appearance in the mirror that morning, straightening out her skirt and taking a deep breath. She wasn't sure what her day would hold, but she was ready for whatever it was going to throw at her.

As she turned around, Aaron walked into the bedroom with Lexie resting comfortably in his right arm. She was becoming increasingly aware of her surroundings and at 18 weeks, she was constantly looking at her parents and blowing raspberries. Aaron and Emily were completely enamoured by her and suspected they would be for the rest of their lives.

"Hey, you look like a woman on a mission" Aaron said with a smile.

"I am a woman on a mission, a mission to have a great first day back."

"I have no doubt that you will." He said as he kissed her cheek. "And neither does Lexie, isn't that right?" he cooed down at his daughter. Lexie gave a toothless smile back at her father as he lightly kissed her nose.

"She is a daddy's girl already." Emily commented as she put her earrings in.

"Of course she is" Aaron said with a smirk.

"Are you sure you're ok to wait for the nanny if I go on?" Emily asked with a strained look on her face. They'd interviewed many people to look after Lexie while they were at work, and they eventually found someone, but Emily was finding it incredibly tough to leave her baby with someone else for the day.

"Yeah, it's fine, my first meeting isn't until 10am anyway." Aaron assure her.

Emily nodded and looked down at the little girl nestled in Aaron's arm. She ran her finger down her soft little cheek and frowned.

"No" Aaron said quickly.

"What?"

"No, you're not allowed to do that, you're not allowed to feel guilty." Aaron told her.

"She's so little Aaron and her mother is abandoning her." Emily exaggerated.

"You are not abandoning her, you have a very important job and as she grows up it will be good for her to see you work, seeing her mother work is how she becomes C.E.O one day. She sees mommy using her amazing brain, so she'll go out and use hers." Aaron assured.

Emily chuckled lightly at Aaron's high aspirations for Lexie. High aspirations that she no doubt agreed with. Their baby was going to be brilliant—and they weren't bias at all.

"Ok, ok—I should go. You know what to tell the nanny, right?" Emily said as she lifted her bag and went downstairs with Aaron and Lexie closely behind her.

"Yes, I've got this." Aaron said as Emily put her coat on.

"Ok, ok—I'm really going to go now." She said as she turned around and let out a breath. "Bye baby—momma loves you so much." She said as she kissed her daughter's head. "Momma also loves you" she said as she quickly kissed Aaron. "I'll see you in a little bit"

"See you" Aaron said as Emily left the house before she could start crying, which both she and Aaron knew was the next stage.

Her baby would be fine, she knew she would be fine, but it didn't make this moment any easier. She knew she had to take the day as it came, and when she got into work, so much would be thrown on her desk that she wouldn't have time to think about missing Lexie. Then she would be home before she knew it.

* * *

A short while later, Hannah walked into Aaron's office with some papers in hand. She eyed Aaron curiously, seeing he had his back to the door and was looking down at the floor behind his desk.

"Hey Aaron, can you read over these papers and get them back to me?" Hannah asked as he finally turned around, looking a little flustered.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, just leave them there, I'll look at them as soon as I can." Aaron said as gurgling sounds came from behind the desk.

"Is uh—is everything ok?" Hannah asked as she folded her arms.

"Yeah, just—excuse me, for one second." Aaron said as he turned and looked at the floor again. "Lexie, we made a deal, you stay quiet and daddy will give you some yummy milk—" Aaron whispered down at Lexie.

"Uh… what are you doing?" Hannah asked as she raised her eyebrow.

Aaron sighed and lifted Lexie's car seat onto his desk, to reveal the happy looking baby, sucking on one of her toys. "The nanny bailed, and my wife is otherwise engaged so—I'm on daddy duty."

"I see. Why not just call Emily?" Hannah asked, knowing that Emily wouldn't mind.

"Because it's her first day back and I don't want her to feel like she has to take Lexie home, that's not fair. I would have stayed home with her myself, but I have some important meetings today so I just—I snuck her in here." Aaron explained.  
"What about day care?"

"Full." Aaron told her. Lexie started to fuss in her seat and Aaron lifted her out of her seat as she rested against his shoulder.

"What are you planning on doing with her when you have to go to said meetings?" Hannah asked, raising her eyebrow.

"I uh—I hadn't thought that far ahead." Aaron said with an awkward smirk, before having a light bulb moment. "Here, would you mind-?" he said, holding out Lexie for her to take.

"Oh, I am terrible with babies—" Hannah said before Aaron cut her off and set Lexie in her arms before she could protest any further.

"Now—my meeting." Aaron said with a smirk.

"Are you kidding me right now? I am not a baby sitter!" Hannah protested.

"You called yourself a glorified baby sitter in Cuba" Aaron reminded her.

"This isn't even glorified, it's straight up babysitting, I don't do dirty dippers-" Hannah said as she awkwardly looked down at Lexie, not finding the little girl quite as enchanting as her parents did.

"Half an hour, tops." Aaron assured her.

"Aaron—"

"You would really be doing me a favour and considering I really swung for you to go on probation and not get fired—" Aaron justified.

"Why is everyone in Washington a master manipulator?"

"This is manipulation for the good. You're an FBI agent, she's in the safest hands possible." Aaron said as he opened the door. "Just—make sure Emily doesn't find out she's here." He added before making a quick dash out of the door.

Hannah sighed and looked down as Lexie's bright eyes shone up at her. "You're lucky you're cute Shore."

* * *

A little while later, Aaron was rushing through the White House corridors to get to his next meeting. He knew he told Hannah he would only be half an hour, but he bended the truth slightly. Part of him felt bad, but he really was desperate.

"Hey" he heard his wife's voice behind him, as he jumped slightly.

"Hey, hi" he said quickly.

Emily narrowed her eyes; "why are you so jumpy?"

"Oh, I'm just running between meetings, not really thinking, you just—made me jump."

"Uh huh—why uh—why do you have Lexie's blanket in your pocket?" Emily asked as she pulled the purple material out and held it up.

Aaron's eyes widened; "oh I must have put it there before I left Lexie—with the nanny—and forgot to give it to her."

"Ok… and why—why do you smell like talcum powder?" Emily asked as she sniffed his suit. He'd changed Lexie's dipper in his office just before Hannah came in, that's why he smelt like the powder.

"Oh, you know how it is, when you have a baby you take on all their smells—the good ones and the bad ones." Aaron joked.

Emily furrowed her eyebrows; "Something's off."

"What?"

"You, you're acting weird." Emily said, standing in front of him and folding her arms. "Something you want to tell me Shore?"

"Nope. Nothing to tell." Aaron said with a tight-lipped smile.

"Right… I'll find out soon enough." Emily said, glaring at Aaron one last time, before walking away.

Aaron let out a breath, knowing he had to get back to Lexie and Hannah as soon as possible.

* * *

After what felt like a life time, Aaron was finally done with his meetings and rushed back to his office to take Lexie home. As he opened the door, he found an empty office and an empty car seat. He quickly lifted out his phone and called Hannah.

"Hey Aaron" Hannah answered.

"Hannah, where is my child?" Aaron asked rubbing his forehead with his hand.

"Oh, I had to go so I gave her to Lenny. She's the godmother, right? Probably should have left her with her in the first place, I am not your probation monkey Aaron, I'm not going to sit around and babysit your daught—" Hannah said before Aaron swiftly cut her off.

"Yeah, yeah ok, I got to go" he said, hanging up the phone before rushing out of his office to find Lenny.

Before he made it to her office, he ran into her texting in the corridor. Texting, and no Lexie in sight.

"Lenny!" Aaron said in a panicked tone. "Where is Lexie?"

"I had a meeting, so I gave her a bottle and then gave her to Seth." Lenny said, not looking up from her phone. "It was entirely convenient timing as well cause, she needed her dipper changed and I just don't do dippers—"

"No one seems to do dippers." Aaron mumbled. "Does Emily know she's here?" Aaron asked.

"No, I was given strict instructions not to tell Emily, which I passed on to Seth, don't worry." Lenny assured him as he dashed towards Seth's office.

When he realised he wasn't there, he took off for the briefing room to see Seth standing at the podium, answer questions, with no baby in sight. Seth spotted Aaron at the back of the room as he cradled his arms signalling a baby, and then raised his eyebrows.

Aaron watched as Seth mouthed _Lyor._

 _Oh dear God. Seth gave his baby to Lyor. Lyor Boone. Crazy Lyor Boone._

Aaron gulped and glared at Seth who knew he would be paying for this one later.

Aaron turned around and saw Lyor walking happily down the corridor and quickly went after him.

"Lyor, where is my baby?"

Lyor stopped and pondered his question for a minute. "I don't know." He answered before walking on.

"What? What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean, Seth handed her to me and I can't remember what I did with her next." Lyor explained calmly, clearly not seeing the problem with his answer.

"Are you kidding me? You can't remember what you did with a human being? A tiny little human being?"

"Well that's the thing, they're so tiny they're barely noticeable." Lyor said. "Hey, do you really only use soap and water for your skin-?"

"Not now Lyor!" Aaron said as he turned the corner and walked into his office.

As if my magic, he stopped in the door way, and saw Tom Kirkman cradling a sleeping Lexie in his arms.

"Mr President, I—"

Tom shushed Aaron as he swayed gently to keep Lexie asleep. "I just got her to sleep, let's not wake her up."

Aaron felt a rush of relief run through him as he collapsed on the sofa. "I have been running around trying to find her—I can't believe I lost my daughter."

"You didn't lose her, you just trusted her with a few friends. Granted you weren't sure which friend. Every parent loses track of their kid every once in a while, it's a supermarket classic. Though, I never expected it to happen in the White House." Tom said with a chuckle.

"I'm sorry sir, it's been a hectic day from start to finish—"

"It's ok, I definitely needed a cuddle from this little girl today." Tom said smiling sincerely and warmly down at his wife's namesake.

"She does make everything better." Aaron said, smiling softly while looking at his feet.

Tom could tell that he was still annoyed with himself for not knowing where she was and knew a few words of wisdom were necessary.

"You know—the first thing Emily told me today when she came was about you and Lexie and how much this little girl adores you. How her eyes just light up when she looks at you." Tom told him.

"I love her so much but I—I worry that I'm going to let her down. That I'm not going to be a good father. I didn't have a good one and I just—it would break me if I failed her." Aaron confessed.

"If you think leaving your daughter with your friends in the White House is failing then you need to re-evaluate what being a father is. The best thing you can give her is unconditional love, and you've got that bit down." Tom assured him as he handed Lexie back to him. "She's in safe hands."

As Tom left the room, Emily walked in ready to ask Aaron about what he was hiding but stopped herself when she saw Aaron sitting on the couch with Lexie.

"What is Lexie doing here?" Emily asked as she sat beside them.

"I uh—it's been a long day." Aaron said simply. "and Lexie's been on a little bit of an adventure." He said with a chuckle, finally relaxing a little as he thought about who Lexie had encountered today. Three people he trusted implicitly— _and Lyor._

"Oh really? Well we better get this adventure girl home then, you can fill me in on the way." Emily chuckled as the family of three gathered their things and left the White House together.


	38. Reconcilable Differences

**A reimagining of 1x01 and 1x03 in the world of The Minor Leaguer and this story!**

 **There's some references to chapter three of The Minor Leaguer if you're confused by anything and want to check it out!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Reconcilable Differences**

* * *

It was a more hectic day than usual in the White House as everyone prepared for the State of the Union that night. Aaron had barely made it through the door of the West Wing before he was bombarded with issues from staffers concerning tonight. For someone who wasn't attending the State of the Union, it frustrated him how involved he had to be with the planning and making sure everything ran like clock-work.

He finally made it into his office and immediately sat in his desk chair, rested his head back and closed his eyes. His hectic morning certainly wasn't helped by the head ache he was sporting. He perhaps had one drink too many last night with Warner and George to celebrate Warner making partner at his law firm, something which he instantly regretted as soon as he woke up.

He jumped slightly in his seat when his office phone started ringing. He moaned, took a deep breath and lifted the phone.

"Aaron Shore" he greeted down the line.

"Would you care to explain to me why the secretary's entire domestic agenda has been erased from President Richmond's speech?" a voice barked at him down the line.

Aaron buried his face in his hand. He swore someone had it out for him. Someone knew he was having a terrible morning and decided it would be funny to present him with a mad Emily Rhodes.

It had been a long three years working together in Washington. Ever since their explosive fight at Warner and Vivienne's wedding, they struggled to put their differences aside and often found themselves butting heads at work. Today appeared to be no different.

He lifted his cell phone and saw that he had 8 missed calls from Emily and a bunch of texts, so he had no doubt she would probably be mad at him about that too.

Aaron sighed; "Emily—"

"Don't 'Emily' me Aaron, just give me a straight answer."

"Can you please stop shouting down the phone?" he asked as he rummaged around in his drawers for some aspirin.

Emily scoffed lightly; "Looks like somebody took the celebrations too far last night." She had heard from Vivienne that Warner was sporting an impressive hangover, so she wasn't surprised to hear Aaron was sporting the same.

"Yeah well at least when I'm drunk, I don't sing awful renditions of Michael Bolton songs and drunk dial people—" Aaron challenged, remembering back to the time Emily got drunk after her boyfriend broke up with her and drunk dialled Aaron.

Emily glared down the phone; "Let's not go there." She said through her teeth.

"How did you even get a copy of the speech?" Aaron asked. He knew Emily had her ways but gaining this was impressive.

"That is not important right now _. Why are none of Tom's programs included in the speech_?" Emily asked slowly,

"I don't know Emily, it's the president's choice—"

"We have worked so hard over the past year for these programs Aaron—"

"No one is questioning that Emily—"

"Just get us a meeting with Langdon, stat." Emily demanded.

Aaron sighed and closed his eyes, resting his head in his hand. "I'll text you the time." he grumbled, wanting more than anything for this conversation to be over.

"Good." She said before hanging up.

Aaron put down the phone and quickly downed the aspirin he found before standing to leave the room. If hour one of work had been as bad as this, he dreaded to think what the rest of the day would hold.

* * *

Aaron cursed himself for asking the question _'what else could possibly go wrong?'_ when he left his office to arrange a meeting between Kirkman and Langdon. Here he was, walking through the West Wing, trying to guide a man on how to be president. A man with no political ambition. A man who was thrown into this role when the whole government had been killed in an attack on the Capitol not two hours ago.

He barely had time to process what had happened. He'd received countless numbers of texts and phone calls from friends and family making sure he was ok, and he'd only had time for a quick response of "I'm ok" before he had to go and help Kirkman.

Although he would never admit it, the first person that crossed his mind when he heard about the bombing was Emily Rhodes. The girl who had been the biggest frustration in his life since he was 18 years old. Despite being on bad terms for the past three years, he cared about her a hell of a lot—though his pride would never let him admit that. His fears for her safety were swiped away when he remembered Kirkman was the designated survivor, so Emily wouldn't be at the State of the Union. It wasn't until he saw her in the flesh striding through the West Wing corridors, that he let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding in. But he would never let her see his fear.

"Aaron!" she called when she spotted him. "I finally got past the gate, what's going on?"

"Can't talk right now Emily, I need to get back to the PEOC—" he said coolly.

"Well you're certainly making a habit of ignoring me today." Emily bit back. _There is was. The dig about not answer her 8 calls. He was wondering when that was going to come._ Aaron merely rolled his eyes, not really in the mood to fight with her right now—he also didn't have time to fight with her.

"Is Tom going to be in the PEOC?" Emily asked.

"It is his meeting." Aaron responded as if it were obvious.

"Well, then I'm coming with you." Emily stated calmly, but surely.

Aaron turned around to look at her; "Sorry, Emily, but in there it's code word clearance only, you're not authorised."

Emily gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes. In any normal circumstance, he'd be making a dig at her for being a minor leaguer and minor leaguers couldn't have access to the President. But it was clear his mind was elsewhere. She still wouldn't put it past him to try and score points now though.

"Aaron if you are choosing now for a pissing contest—"

"That's my point Emily, this is no contest. Now if you'll excuse me—"

"Aaron, President Kirkman needs people he knows by his side. You and I have our differences, believe me I know, everyone is the _whole_ of _Washington_ knows, but those differences are entirely personal, and it should really have no bearing on your better judgement right now. Those issues do not need to be brought into the White House, especially on a night like this. You know how important it is that I am there for him right now." Emily said, trying to reason with him.

Aaron agreed with her. He wouldn't deny that. But this was beyond his control right now. There was nothing that Emily could do to help the situation at this moment—that was his judgement, despite any personal differences.

"I said no Emily" he said quietly before turning and walking away.

As mad as Emily had been at Aaron today, when she saw him in the White House, a wave of relief ran through her. She knew he wasn't supposed to be at the State of the Union, but she still feared that he had gone anyway. She would have never forgiven herself if she left their relationship in the state that it was in and he had died.

When he finally turned around to look at her, she was taken aback by the pain that was in his eyes. She knew him better than anyone and while he could put on a good front, she could tell he was afraid. He was worried. She had no doubt he'd lost friends in the explosion and he'd barely had time to process this. He was thrown into situation no one could have imagined, with no time to breathe.

"Aaron!" Emily called after him, causing him to turn around. She went to say something, but her breath just got caught in her throat. She didn't know what to say, but she just needed him to know that he would be ok.

Aaron gulped when he saw the pained look across Emily's face and realised that perhaps he wasn't as good at hiding his as he thought. He knew what she was trying to say. He understood why she couldn't get it out. He merely nodded at her to show he understood, before turning around again and walking on.

No one could have prepared them for this, no one could have prepared them for being thrown into this working situation together, but they knew they had to fix things. It was just a matter of who would be able to put their pride aside first.

* * *

"You know, red line's been running since yesterday." Aaron said as he caught up with Emily in the corridor. "I'm just saying, if you want to be Chief of Staff, you might think about leaving a little earlier."

Despite everything that had happened, Emily and Aaron still managed to find a way to be at each other's throats in work. They were driving everyone around them nuts, but they were both stubborn, and neither were prepared to let their guard down, especially with the Chief of Staff job on the line.

Emily sighed and continued to look down at her phone; "Not that it's any of your business but my boyfriend asked me to marry him this morning and it's a little rude to walk out in the middle of a proposal."

Aaron felt a little twinge in his heart when Emily said the words _boyfriend_ and _marry_. He knew she had been dating this guy Justin Winchester, but it never occurred to him that it was anything serious. He'd met him once at Warner and Vivienne's house and didn't think much of him. He was exceptionally ordinary, and Emily Rhodes deserved to be with someone who was a little more than ordinary.

Aaron cleared his throat and realised that he had been silent for a moment too long; "Justin asked you to marry him?" He asked, trying to play it cool. "Who knew he had it in him, Warner and Vivienne always said he was a bit of a weasel." He said with a scoff as Emily glared deeply at him. "How long have you been going out again?"

"Ten months, why?" Emily asked.

Aaron let out a laugh as Emily stopped in her tracks. What game was he playing? They had both done exceptionally well in ruining each other's relationships in the past, so she was waiting for his attempt at a fatal blow to ruin this one.

"Something funny Shore?" she asked as she crossed her arms.

"It's classic post-disaster acceleration." Aaron stated as Emily raised her eyebrows, not understanding where he was going with this. "Traumatic events tend to make people re-evaluate their lives. Babies, marriage, divorce. It happened after 9/11." He was about to say she was lucky, but he feared his face would give away that he didn't mean that at all.

"Is it really that shocking to you that someone would just want to marry me, for me?" Emily asked.

"No, that is not what I'm saying—"

"and I haven't actually decided… yet." Emily said, slowing down at the end of her sentence when she thought she'd caught on to what Aaron was trying to get at. "I get it." She said in her light bulb moment; "You want me to say yes so I'll be distracted, and you'll get Chief of Staff. Wow, Aaron, impressive, that is low even for you." Emily said as she started to walk on again.

Aaron quickly caught up with her, reached for her arm and turned her around, not quite believing that she would think that lowly of him. "What are you talking about?" he asked as they stood uncomfortably close. "You really think I would be ok with you marrying Justin Winchester?" Aaron asked quietly as Emily simply stared up at him in disbelief.

This wasn't about the job—this was about them. He didn't want her to get married- _period._

Aaron cleared his throat and took a step back, before anyone could start talking about the moment Aaron Shore and Emily Rhodes shared in the West Wing corridor. Emily remained silent, unsure what to say. He had no right to tell her not to get married. Not since he walked away from her countless times. She certainly had no right to get mad at him—considering she was the reason two of his girlfriends broke up with him.

"But like you told Caroline—" Aaron said breaking the silence between them, remembering what Emily had told his ex; "Love in Washington doesn't happen every day." Before walking on and leaving a stunned Emily in his wake.

* * *

To say that Emily was pissed when Aaron got chief of staff over her would have been an understatement. She thought she deserved that job more than anyone. She understood Kirkman's reasoning, but it didn't make it any easier.

When Aaron made it clear earlier that marrying Justin wasn't a good idea, she realised he was right. Post disaster acceleration was definitely not the right reason to get married. She went to Justin's office down town that afternoon to tell him that she couldn't marry him and that she was sorry. He merely nodded his head and asked; _"Is it because of him?"_ Emily knew exactly who he meant, but she wasn't about to admit it in that moment. She played ignorant, but Justin was no fool. _It had always been him._

After she left Justin's office, Emily thought about the damage she and Aaron had caused each other over the last three years. It was damage she couldn't quite believe she had caused to someone she cared about so much and she felt ashamed that she had let it go this far.

As she walked past Aaron's office that night, she watched him as he lifted a bottle of whiskey out of his drawer and smile. She noted how at home Aaron looked as he looked around his new desk and she finally made herself known as she walked into the room.

"It looks good on you. The office, it suits you. Really, congratulations." She said with a small but sincere smile.

Aaron couldn't quite believe that Emily was standing here being nice to him, but he wasn't about to question it. "No hard feelings? I'm sure I could hunt down a couple of glasses—"

"I should get home. I promised my mom I'd video call her, she's a little freaked out about me working in the White House right now." Emily explained.

"Understandably." Aaron said with a nod. "So, I get a job and you get a fiancé." He stated, dying to know what she'd said but assuming it was yes. "You're probably the real winner here."

Emily wasn't sure she was ready to have this conversation with Aaron, but she knew she had to say something. "I said no. Post disaster acceleration isn't the right reason to get married."

Aaron sighed; "I didn't mean that—"

"No, you definitely did." Emily said with a little smile. "And you definitely meant what you said about Daniel being a weasel."

"I just—he is exceptionally ordinary Emily. And you deserve more than ordinary." Aaron confessed.

Emily nodded, both of them knowing there was more to Aaron's reasoning, but neither were willing to acknowledge it.

"Well at least I won't be late for work again. And now we're 1 for 1 on ruining each other's relationships." Emily pointed out, seeing as Caroline had broken up with Aaron after her chat with Emily.

"Well, Jessica did break up with me in college because she thought I had feelings for you and I did screw up your date with Ben that same night." Aaron pointed out.

Emily scoffed at how ridiculous this whole situation was; "2 for 2 then." She half joked.

Aaron decided in that moment that if Emily could put her pride aside and come in here to congratulate him, then he could put his pride aside and fix things with her.

"I'm sorry that I accused you of sabotaging my relationship with Caroline. It was out of line and unfair. Caroline and I were never right to begin with and—I'm sorry for everything that's happened with us over the past few years. I should never have let it get this far, I should have put my pride aside—" Aaron said.

"It's ok. I'm sorry too. I can't believe it's taken us three years to get here." Emily said with a little laugh.

"I know, if only our friends could see us now." Aaron joked, knowing that Warner, George, Vivienne and Lenny wouldn't quite believe they'd managed to put their differences aside.

"I guess now we can start working together like normal adults who don't hate each other."

Aaron looked at Emily with a softness in his face. "I could never hate you." He confessed.

Emily looked at her feet, trying to hide the soft smile that was forming on her face. She could never hate him either, but she felt she had confessed enough for tonight.

"Just—don't get too comfortable. Chiefs of staff get replaced around here all the time." She said raising her eyebrows and smirking. "Goodnight Aaron." She said, before she turned and left the room, leaving a stunned yet relieved Aaron in her wake.

 _He was finally getting his Emily back._


	39. The Crusade

**Hi everyone! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you're all stars, I loved hearing what you thought!**

 **Seth's on a crusade to find out more about Emily and Aaron's past in this chapter.**

 **Set early season 1.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **The Crusade**

* * *

A few weeks had passed since Aaron had been named Chief of Staff and Seth was suspicious. Aaron and Emily had been relatively civil with each other and it had taken majority of the White House by surprise.

Seth had always been curious about their relationship. It was clear that they knew each other before they came to work in Washington, but no one knew what the connection was or how deep it ran.

It was clear that something had happened to cause them to fall out majorly, but no one knew what.

Seth was on a crusade. He was going to get to the bottom of their mysterious past, and he wasn't going to stop until he did.

"What's the deal with you and Aaron?" Seth asked as he caught up with Emily in the corridor of the West Wing.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked without looking up from her phone.

"You fight like cats and dogs, you make snide remarks and in jokes about your past, you clearly knew each other before you came here… what's the deal?"

"There is no deal. Washington's a lot smaller than you think." Emily said, not really in the mood to delve into her complicated past with Aaron.

"Oh come on, that is just wetting my appetite further, there is clearly a history between you and a juicy one at that consider the hostile nature of pretty much every conversation you have." Seth remarked.

Emily sighed and turned to face Seth. "If I tell you… you have to promise not to breathe a word of this to anyone else."

Seth's eyes widened. He didn't expect Emily to crack so soon. She also had her serious voice on and he grew more and more concerned over what she was about to tell him.

"Ye—yeah of course, you have my word." Seth promised.

Emily looked around her before leaning closer to Seth; "… we went to prom together."

Seth's anticipation fell from his face as he rolled his eyes at her sarcasam and stuck his hands in his pockets causing Emily to cross her arms and smirk.

"That's not funny" he replied, entirely unimpressed.

"It's the truth, we did go to prom together, do you want pictures?" Emily asked with a laugh.

"If I can use the pictures to mock Aaron, then definitely yes, but seriously. Prom? Prom cannot be the reason you can barely stand to be in the same room." Seth reasoned.

"Maybe he pissed me off at prom." Emily said, adding fuel to the fire.

"Did he?" Seth inquired.

Emily thought back to prom night. She had fun with Aaron. She'd almost _kissed_ Aaron. But once again, their timing was entirely wrong.

"… Nope." Emily responded before turning and walking away, leaving a frustrated Seth behind her.

"I will get to the bottom of this!"

* * *

A short while later, Seth made his way to Aaron's office. He decided that a direct approach maybe wasn't the best way forward, so he decided to ask some fairly innocent questions, in the hopes of getting a clearer picture.

"Hey, you went to school with Emily, right?" Seth asked as he sat opposite Aaron at his desk.

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh no reason, Emily just mentioned it in passing… what was Emily like at school?" Seth asked.

"Um… she was a few years below me, so I was never in any of her classes—" Aaron responded, not really sure what Seth meant.

"No, no not academically, we both know she's incredibly smart, but like—as a teenager. What was she like as a teenager?"

Aaron leant back in his chair, not really sure how to answer this question. He was sure Emily wouldn't want Seth knowing all the crazy details of their past, but what was the harm in telling him something, right?

"She was studious, sensible… though we did have a prank war the year we met." Aaron said with a smirk, thinking about the ridiculous trick they played on each other.

"Pranks? You two played pranks?" Seth said, not quite believing that the ever-serious Emily Rhodes and Aaron Shore were capable of pranks. "What kind of pranks?"

"Stolen shoes, frozen underwear, flour and egg bombs" Aaron rhymed off.

"Is that why you two fell out? Over pranks? Though you still went to prom together…" Seth said quickly and curiously, spilling out his thoughts.

Aaron raised his eyebrow at his friend as Seth retreated in his chair slightly, realising that he'd probably just blown any chance of getting information out of Aaron.

"You want to know why we have our differences?" Aaron asked as he sat forward in his chair.

"I mean—yeah. It's all very mysterious and curious and—I gotta know man." Seth replied honestly and frantically.

"You know, for someone who deals with gossip hungry news reporters every day, you'd think you'd want to stray away from gossip." Aaron said with a snigger.

"This isn't gossip, this is work place fact— _Aaron Shore and Emily Rhodes do not get along_." Seth said. "Until recently." He added at the end. "Something changed when you got the Chief of Staff job, which makes me think you made amends for whatever went down between you two… so, was it the pranks?"

"You think juvenile pranks caused a rift between us?" Aaron asked, raising his eyebrows, not quite believing Seth was serious right now. "No, Seth. We did not fall out over some pranks."

Seth sighed and sat back in his chair; "Then why? Why did you fall out?"

"You're going to have to be a little more specific, we've fallen out a lot over the years—" Aaron teased.

"This isn't funny."

"I wasn't trying to be funny."

"Was it at Georgetown? You went to college together for a few months, did you piss her off then? Wait, let me guess—" he said as he stood from the chair.

He lifted one of the photos from Aaron's desk of Aaron, Warner and George all sporting Georgetown football gear. "Of course, you were the quarterback…" Seth mumbled when he noticed the Q on Aaron's jersey as Aaron smirked and rolled his eyes. "Ok… here's my new theory. You were the quarterback. You… were a jerk."

"Hey—" Aaron said, trying to protest, but Seth immediately cut him off.

"Let me finish. You were a jerk. Thought you were better than everyone else. Then, your old friend Emily comes to Georgetown. She's nothing but nice to you, and you ghost her. She gets mad then starts to ghost you— alas, a never-ending cycle of bitterness for a friendship lost." Seth said clapping his hands and pointing at Aaron in celebration.

"You really think that over the 10 years that have passed since college, we would hold a resentment over a lost friendship from high school?" Aaron asked.

"I don't know—am I right to think that?" Seth said.

"and why do you assume it was my fault?" Aaron asked bitterly, as Seth raised an eyebrow, realising he had hit a nerve.

"So, it was Emily's fault?" Seth asked.

"I didn't say that—"

"So it was both your faults." Seth said definitively. "Interesting…" Seth said as he turned to leave the room. "I need some time to mull over this new information… I'll be back." Seth said as he left the room with a studious look on his face.

Aaron sighed and looked back at the photos on his desk. He was surprised Seth hadn't noticed Emily in the photo of himself, Warner and George. She was candidly laughing in the background with her friends. Aaron felt himself holding back a smirk as he looked at her. He was glad Seth didn't notice her. Otherwise he may have had to admit that he kept that photo on his desk for _her_.

* * *

"So…" Seth said as he approached Emily in the canteen and she immediately rolled her eyes, not quite ready for Seth's latest interrogation. "Aaron was about as mum as you were on the situation—"

"There is no situation—"

"So I went to the next best source—social media." Seth said as he whipped out his phone. "According to Facebook, your friends have been feeling a little nostalgic, and posted some photos recently of a trip you all took together—to Hawaii."

Emily sighed and looked at Seth's phone as he flicked through the photos. He stopped at one photo of Emily and Aaron smiling at one another, and Emily's heart jumped a little in her chest.

"These two people do not look like people who had a major falling out." Seth pointed out. "Then your brother was also feeling nostalgic and posted some photos of his wedding, with you and Aaron laughing in the background." He said showing her the photo. "You took _Aaron_ to your brother's _wedding_?"

"That one is a long story…"

"I've got time." Seth said as he perched himself on the table and smiled.

Emily sighed; "I needed someone to come to my brother's wedding with me so my mom would get off my back about not having a date and Aaron sent my date running because he was a little drunk and he felt bad so he offered to come with me. I was really reluctant at first, but I eventually said yes so he would stop bothering me." Emily explained as Seth furrowed his eyebrows and looked at her with a slightly shocked expression.

"This—this keeps getting weirder and weirder. What the _hell_ happened between you two?" Seth asked, not even finding this funny anymore. They vacation together, they go to prom together, she brought him to her brother's wedding—they fall apart. How does that just happen?

"I don't know what to tell you Seth, we're fine, I—" Emily said, not sure how much she was willing to tell Seth.

"Look, there is clearly a lot to this story that you don't want to tell and that's ok, I won't pry. But you sound like you had a pretty good thing going. I hope you'll one day get that back." Seth said as he turned to walk away.

"Seth—" Emily called, but stopped herself, unsure where she was going with this. "He—he's Aaron. I know that probably means nothing to you considering the limited information I have given you but—I don't even know how to form the words to tell you what he is to me. He's just—he's _Aaron_."

Seth nodded his head, knowing in that moment that their issues ran deeper than a few differing political view points or a few juvenile pranks. They and their past meant a hell of a lot to each other and that was something they had to work out on their own.

* * *

Later that night, Seth made his way round to Aaron's office to apologise for the inquisition. Before he could say anything, Aaron was quicker to the mark.

"Seth, if you're here to interrogate me—"

"No, I'm here to say sorry. I shouldn't have been so nosy, it wasn't cool, your past with Emily is between you two. It's none of my business." Seth responded as Aaron looked at him, surprised.

"Did Emily say something?" Aaron asked.

"… no. She didn't say anything." Seth responded as he turned to leave.

"She's Emily." Aaron said, stopping Seth in his tracks. Seth smirked that Aaron was saying the exact same thing as Emily did. The simple words of 'she's Emily' and 'he's Aaron' conveyed an awful lot. "I don't—I don't know what other way to put it. She's Emily Rhodes and she's the biggest frustration of my life."

Seth was getting to know Aaron and Emily pretty well in this job. He knew they were incredibly smart and incredibly driven. They were the perfect people for their jobs. But he also knew they could be stubborn and proud and wouldn't be at all surprised if that's what got in their way of their relationship—platonic or not.

"I get it man. I didn't learn much about you today but—even in the way that you look at each other. It's clear she means a hell of a lot to you, and you to her. Don't let that slip away." Seth said with a sincere smile as he turned and left the room.

Aaron looked down at the files in front of him knowing that Seth was right. He'd finally started to get Emily Rhodes back, and he was never letting her go again.

* * *

 **Don't forget to review!**


	40. Good Faith

**Set after chapter 6 and episode 1x10, during 1x11-1x14**

 **Emily's struggling to understand and accept that Aaron could be a traitor, and Aaron's struggling to believe Emily would think he was a traitor.**

 **In relation to Aaron saving Emily's job—I wrote it as if it happened when they were married, so we're going to keep it that way. Aaron and Emily kissed for other reasons that will hopefully be clear here.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Good Faith**

* * *

Emily couldn't quite believe this was happening. Not 24 hours ago it seemed like Aaron and Emily's time had finally come. They were able to put everything behind them and start what they should have started 14 years ago. All the missed opportunities seemed futile compared to the kiss they shared in Aaron's office. Peter MacLeish was approved for vice president, Emily confessed she thought Aaron would do everything he could to get her out of the White House, not be the person she relied upon the most or the other half of their formidable duo. Aaron confessed he was wrong about her, she wasn't a minor leaguer—she never had been. He was learning from her.

Then it happened. Everything seemed like it was falling into place in that moment. They finally kissed, and nothing had ever felt more right. They agreed to go on a date. Aaron remembered how much she loved Elvis. She listened to him non-stop when they were at school.

Yet despite all the good, it was if the universe had a different plan. Emily found herself standing in a spare room of the hospital, trying to clean the blood off her coat. Aaron's blood, Tom's blood, she didn't know. All she did know what that Aaron Shore was a suspect in the Capitol bombing explosion, she had to cancel their date and he got shot when he tried to protect her. She didn't know what to say, she didn't know what to do. She felt like she was in a bubble, nothing felt real. She felt numb. She felt powerless and she refused to believe that Aaron was a traitor, not one part of her thought it could be true.

She saw Alex walk past the window and as soon as her friend spotted her she rushed into the room and hugged Emily.

"I'm so sorry" Emily whispered to Alex as she held her tight.

"He's alive, that's all that matters. Have you seen Aaron?" Alex asked. She heard that he'd been hit but that it hadn't been fatal.

"Yeah, I just left him, the bullet hit his shoulder, he's fine, he just needed some stitches and he's bandaged up." Emily explained.

Alex could tell that something was bothering Emily. She saw her stiffen as soon as she mentioned Aaron's name and she couldn't look her in the eye.

"Em… I know you've known Aaron for a long time, I'm sure you're worried about him—"

"No, I mean—yes, I was scared to death for him, he moved in front of me when the first shot was fired, if he hadn't have done that it probably would have been me needing stitched up that's not—that's not what I'm worried about the most." Emily explained.

Alex furrowed her eyebrows. "What is it?"

Emily moved past her and closed the door. "I know this isn't the best time but—earlier the president asked me to look into a highly classified situation—"

"I know, did you find anything?" Alex asked, knowing Tom had asked Emily to investigate this.

"I think so, there was a call made from the White House to kill that report and the call—the call came from Aaron's office." Emily said, her eyes glistening with tears.

"What?" Alex said, not quite believing what she was hearing.

"I know, I don't—I don't know what to do, I don't know what to think. Alex—I can't believe that he was involved in this. I won't believe it. This is Aaron we're talking about, _my Aaron_ , my Aaron that I have known since I was 16 years old, that I have lov—" Emily stopped herself before she could say what should only be said to him. She let herself catch her breath as Alex held her arms with a broken expression to match hers. "He didn't do this." Emily whispered.

Alex nodded her head. "I understand that Emily… but until we know for sure, he can't go anywhere near my husband."

Emily nodded weakly, knowing that no matter what her thoughts on the matter were, Alex was right. Until they could prove that Aaron had nothing to do with this, he had to be kept at bay. She suddenly felt the walls that she had built up to Aaron Shore over the past 14 years grow higher and higher. Just as she felt they were crumbling it turned out she was becoming more guarded than ever before.

* * *

Emily had done an expert job of avoiding Aaron all day. Any time he went to speak to her, she quickly walked away, but she knew it was only a matter of time before he started asking questions.

Late that night, she saw him storming towards her in the West Wing and gulped.

"Emily, I need to talk to you" he said with a completely straight and stoney expression.

"Sure" Emily said with a small smile as Aaron opened the door to the Cabinet meeting room and allowed Emily to walk past him. She took a deep breath before turning around and looking at him, trying to keep her cool.

"What's up?" she asked.

"You want to tell me what's going on?" Aaron asked as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"What are you talking about?"

"I just got off the phone with the White House archives. They asked me if I had authorised you to look at my personal phone logs from two years ago." Aaron explained. Emily closed her eyes and remained silent. She didn't know what to do, she didn't know what to say. She had to remain loyal to what the President asked of her, but she wanted more than anything to just tell him what was happening, so he could clear everything up.

"Alright, I'll ask again." Aaron said as Emily remained silent. "What's going on Emily?"

"It must have been a miscommunication."

Aaron scoffed, "You really expect me to believe that? I've known you for a long time Emily, you don't have as good a poker face as you think. I can read you like a map." He said, raising his voice slightly in frustration. "You also lied to me when you said you were working late because the President was having second thoughts on his choice for HUD secretary, something which he knew nothing about! Was that miscommunication too?"

Emily felt her eyes stinging with tears as she looked to her feet, struggling to find the right thing to say.

"Talk to me Emily!" Aaron said raising her voice further, as she jumped slightly where she stood. She hated this. She hated it so much. She hated that there was yet another thing tearing them apart.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss this, I'm sorry" she replied sheepishly.

"You're not—what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Aaron asked angrily.

"It means what it means Aaron—" she said as she tried to walk past him, but he reached out his arm that wasn't held in a sling and stopped her, as they stood side by side, just a breath apart.

"Emily…" he said quietly. "This is me you're talking to. Not some random stranger. We've been through a hell of a lot in the last 14 years, we're finally getting back on track, don't shut me out now. Not again."

Emily finally stopped looking at her feet and looked straight into his eyes. She wanted more than anything to just hold him and never let him go, tell him that she believed him, but she couldn't, she just couldn't. She had to let this drive a wedge between them against her will.

"I—I can't." she whispered as she allowed a tear to fall down her cheek. "You should talk to the president when he gets back." She finished.

She reached up and kissed him lightly and quickly as the only sign of good faith she could give him now, before quickly opening the door and darting out of the room.

* * *

The following evening, after radio silence from Aaron, Emily went to Seth's office in the hopes of finding something a little stronger than water to drink.

"Hey, you got anything to drink?" she asked as she knocked on the door.

"That kind of day huh?" Seth said as Emily nodded lightly. "Come on in."

Seth poured her a drink which she quickly downed. Seth then handed her the bottle which she quickly took and poured herself another.

"I mean, that's an 18-year Macallan, but help yourself…" Seth said, trying not to lose his mind over Emily drinking one of his most prized possessions.

"Thank you" she said solemnly before sitting down in a chair opposite his desk.

"Is this about Aaron?" Seth asked cautiously, seeing the frosty exchanges that had had over the past few days.

"When are my problems ever not about Aaron?" Emily answered honestly as she looked down at her glass. "I think it is entirely possible that the universe is out to get us."

"You know, I may not know much about your past, about what is going on right now, but I how much you care—let me rephrase that—how much you _love_ each other is abundantly clear. I think you're scared and as soon as you let that fear go—I don't think you'll ever look back." Seth advised.

"I did let my fear go. I am a control freak, a perfectionist, I am a very closely guarded person and—I let my guard down. I let him in after pushing him away for 14 years and it all came crashing down yet again." Emily confessed as she felt her eyes water for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "You'd think I'd take it as a sign that we're just not meant to be but—I can't shake him. Even when we fell out for three years I still wanted him. More than anything."

She didn't know what came over her in that moment. She'd never been so honest about how she felt about Aaron. She just felt like she had to say it. But in her heart of hearts she wished she could just say it to _him_.

"I wouldn't take this as a sign you're not meant to be. Despite everything that has happened between you two over 14 years, you keep coming back to each other. I reckon right now—just isn't the right time. But I just know you'll get there." Seth said sincerely as Emily smiled softly at him. "You need to go home. Get home safely, get a really good night's sleep. That is all of my advice at this hour, you get more tomorrow."

Emily stood from her seat and set the glass down before looking at Seth. "Thank you" she said quietly, before leaving the room, ready to get into bed and forget about this day.

* * *

At first, he didn't understand, but when he was shown the threat assessment the Pentagon made for the Capitol bombing, and that he recalled this file without even seeing it, it all started to make sense.

 _Emily was avoiding him because she was asked to investigate him._

His heart sunk in his chest when he realised she thought he was a part of this. That she thought he was even capable of being a part of this.

Or did she?

When he confronted her in the cabinet meeting room she could barely look at him. She was shaking, her eyes were filled with tears, she could only speak in whispers. Was she _afraid_ of him? She'd known him since he was 18 years old, she knew him better than anyone, surely she couldn't be afraid of him?

Then he remembered. When he stopped her from leaving, she'd stopped shaking. She'd stopped shaking and she looked at him. Being near him calmed her, his touch calmed her. _She'd kissed him._ A sign of good faith, she couldn't have kissed him if she didn't believe in him. If she didn't trust him. She was too smart for that.

He cursed that yet another thing had come between them. He knew she couldn't talk about it, he probably couldn't talk about it either, and he had no doubt that their pride would get in the way of sorting things out. Neither of them liked to make the first move, especially when things never worked out. She didn't know how to say sorry and he didn't know how to say she had nothing to be sorry for.

As he waited in Seth's office the following day, he wondered if he was about to make the right choice. Seth would be pissed. Emily would be beyond angry. He would be splitting up their formidable trio. But what else could he do? People were speculating and politics was about perception.

Seth walked through the door and was surprised to see his friend sitting there but was also glad to see him.

"Hey man" Seth greeted as he hugged his friend. "You back?"

"No, no it's just a quick hit." Aaron explained.

"You weren't really with the FBI were you?" Seth asked. He didn't believe it as soon as he heard it.

Aaron looked at his friend for a moment, before looking down at the floor; "Look, Seth, I'm tried—"

"Come on man, I know a non-answer when I hear one." Seth said as he walked around his desk and sat down.

"If I felt you needed to know something I would tell you." Aaron said.

Seth realised that this was not something Aaron was willing to get into right now, so he nodded his head and dropped it. "Alright."

"How uh—how's Emily doing?" Aaron asked quietly. He wanted to just ask her himself, but he knew it would probably turn into a situation neither of them wanted to be in.

"On the job? You know Emily, she'll get the job done." Seth explained. "But personally? Bit of a different story." Seth said giving him a knowing look.

Aaron sighed; "Seth—" he began, not in any mood for a lecture.

"I don't know what happened between you two" Seth interrupted. "All I know now is that you're being evasive and she—she's _really_ sad. She's sad and she misses you like crazy. So, whatever this is, no matter how big it is. It's not worth this pain that you're both clearly in."

Aaron nodded. He wished it were that simple. He wished it wasn't bigger than either of them, but right now, it was, and this was still the right thing to do. He lifted a letter out of his pocket and set it on Seth's desk.

"What's this?" Seth asked.

"Read it. It could use a bit of your magic." Aaron simply said, as Seth opened the envelope.

"Are you serious?" Seth asked as he read the page. "Aaron, no, you can't do this—"

"I don't have much of a choice right now. My job is to protect the president and that is exactly what I'm doing. Just—help me. Please."

* * *

Emily walked through the West Wing like a ghost from the moment Kirkman told her Aaron had resigned. She didn't know how to take it. She was angry, sad, confused. She wanted to go to him and make things right, but what could she possibly say to fix this insane situation?

She realised she may have to say something a lot sooner than she'd planned when she spotted Aaron returning his White House property at the entrance. She took a deep breath and walked towards him.

"Aaron" she said as he turned around, his face softening when he saw her.

They stood in a moment of silence before Emily spoke; "You really going to do this?"

"I haven't been left with much of a choice." Aaron said.

 _Say sorry Emily. Say sorry._ Was all that was ringing through Emily's head. But she felt that this was neither the time nor place. She just softly nodded before looking at her feet. "What's next?"

"I haven't gotten that far yet, but I'll let you know." Aaron replied with a nod and a soft smile.

A lot was going unspoken between them and very little was understood.

"I guess you're not much of a minor leaguer anymore." He said with a smirk which she returned with a soft scoff.

"No, I guess not." She replied. "I promise to do as good a job as you." She said sincerely.

"No" Aaron said as he walked closer to her as Emily's breath caught in her throat. "Do better" he said softly as he looked at her, wanting more than anything to hold her and just tell her that he loved her. But he couldn't. His voice caught in his throat as he struggled to find anymore words. Instead, he gulped and gave her a tight-lipped smile, before turning and walking out the door, leaving Emily more sad and alone than before.


	41. Reasons of the Heart

**Hi everyone! Thank you all for your reviews! I miss these Emily and Aaron days so much so it's nice to be able to keep them alive a little through the past few chapters…**

 **From the start, I've been writing as ideas come to me and I realise that can get confusing when it's all out of order, so I was thinking about reordering the chapters in chronological order, now that I've gone back through season 1.**

 **So let me know what you guys think about doing that!**

 **I've also added a moment from 2x01 into Chapter one of this story, so make sure you check it out! I've grown to love Lyor and I just had to write about his moment with Aaron in his office...**

 **Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **Reasons of the Heart**

* * *

Aaron didn't know what to do with himself. He couldn't remember a time when he had not been busy and now there was quite literally nothing for him to do. At first, he tried to look for the positives. He could finally sleep normal hours and while he was by no means unfit or in bad shape, he could start running and working out more, in particular, he could get his shoulder back to full strength after being shot. He would have time for his friends, for his family. But he knew he couldn't keep this up forever. He knew he needed to get back in the game. How? He wasn't sure? He'd peaked in his job, so anything would be a step down from here.

But he was still determined. Still determined to get his mind off the White House. His mind off Emily Rhodes.

He was relieved when his cousin Nadia came to town. He loved having a little bit of home with him in Washington, especially when he hadn't lived in Texas since he was 15 years old. He really hoped that she would get the job with Congresswoman Yoshida, she deserved it more than anything.

"Are you ever going to talk about it?" Nadia asked as they walked through the park.

"Talk about what?" Aaron said, playing ignorant.

"About why you left the White House. Look, I know you don't do anything without good reason, but my mom said you're thinking about moving back to Texas and for the record, I think that is a really bad idea. You've been here since you were 15 years old this is your home. Our village is the same little village you left behind for a reason… and AJ's there…" Nadia said scrunching up her face as Aaron chuckled lightly. His could be terrible tiresome.

"Nadia, I've made it about as far as I can go in this town." Aaron said, thinking maybe there was something for him in Dallas or Houston. "It's time to try something new."

"When you graduated from college, all you could talk about was this job in New York and how it was going to get you exactly where you wanted to go. Washington DC. Back to where it all began. You always told me that it didn't matter that we came from nothing. We could still make a difference. You love this place. You love the people in this place." Nadia reminded him.

"The people?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah. George, Lenny, Vivienne, Warner, James." Nadia rhymed off, knowing how much Aaron cared for his friends and godson. "And then there's Emily" she added on at the end of the sentence.

Aaron's head shot up when she said her name. "What about her?" he asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Aaron. Come on."

"I don't know what you want me to say, she's a colleague—"

"I think we both know she's a little more than that. Ever since you were 18 years old it's been Emily this and Emily that. Then you start working together in the White House, now you're gone and clamming up when I say her name." Nadia said as Aaron's stiffened his posture, annoyed that he was that readable.

"I don't want to talk about her." Aaron said quietly.

"I've never met her, but by the way you talk about her, she seems reason enough to stick around." Nadia said sincerely. "If you think you're done, with work, with Emily, then go home… but if not…"

Aaron didn't know what to say. She was right. He wasn't done making a difference in Washington, and he knew in his heart that no matter what, he and Emily Rhodes would never be done.

* * *

Emily walked into Seth's office that evening and slumped down in the chair opposite his desk. Seth looked up from his page curiously at her and saw that she was not in the best of moods.

"Is this conversation going to require alcohol?" Seth asked.

"Potentially. I ran into Aaron earlier." Emily began as Seth nodded and swiftly lifted out two glasses and some whiskey.

"I think I should be a certified therapist after all this—" Seth joked as Emily glared. Seth cleared his throat before continuing. "Why was he here?"

Emily scoffed before downing her drink. "He's the new Chief Strategist for Kimble Hookstraten."

"I'm sorry, did you just say Kimble Hookstraten?" Seth asked, surprised as this move. "But she's a republican and he's—"

"A card holding democrat, I know, it's—rouge." Emily said.

"Is that why you're pissed? Cause he made a rouge move?" Seth asked, raising any eyebrow.

"I'm not pissed. I'm confused but not pissed. Two days ago, he was ready to leave DC and now he's back and working for Hookstraten?" Emily asked, remembering that Warner had told her Aaron's plans to move back to Texas. "It's weird."

"Maybe someone gave him an incentive to stay."

"I suppose Warner and Vivienne and James are here… and Lenny and George." Emily said, assuming that their presence would be his most obvious reason for staying. They had been family to him since he was a teenager. "And he's always loved Washington, he's always wanted to make a difference." Emily added, wanting to think of any other option before deluding herself into thinking he stayed for her.

"Yeah… and there's you." Seth said, as if he was stating the obvious.

"No" Emily said with certainty. "I screwed up, he should want to get far away from me."

"I don't think love quite works like that." Seth replied.

"Love? You're—no. Aaron doesn't love me."

"Uh… the past 15 years would suggest otherwise, but you do you. Now, get out of my office, go home. I'm not going to be your therapist anymore, my last piece of advice—go to Aaron, say you're sorry, kiss and make up." Seth said with a smirk at the end.

Emily rolled her eyes before standing up. "I'm sorry for making you listen to my Aaron problems."

Seth held his hands up; "Hey, if I can be a part of the most mysterious and bizarre love story ever told then I'll will know my life has meaning." He said sarcastically as Emily rolled her eyes and walked out the door.

"Goodnight Seth" she said cheerily, thinking about what her next move should be.

* * *

 **And you guys know what comes next… check out chapter 3 and 16 for a little refresher!**


	42. Politics, Privacy and Perception

**Hi everyone! So following what you guys have said, I'm not going to put it in chronological order yet, cause knowing me I'll probably think of something to write about from their past and not be able to put it in! But if this story ever comes to an end, I'll maybe move it around then!**

 **For now, s** **ome rejigged moments from the second half of season 1**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Politics, Privacy and Perception**

* * *

"Girl walks into a bar…" Emily said as she sat down beside Aaron at their local bar.

"Does that mean I'm buying?" he asked.

"Well it is business." Emily joked with a wink as she motioned the bartender for the same drink as Aaron's.

It had been around a week since Emily and Aaron had finally worked through their issues and confessed they loved each other, and they couldn't remember a time when they were happier.

While they missed working together all day, they left work with smiles on their faces, knowing they would be seeing each other.

"You know, it's weird…" Aaron said as Emily furrowed her eyebrows.

"What's weird?"

"Not seeing you all day" Aaron said. He missed coming into work and Emily being the first face he'd see, often with a coffee in hand for him.

"Well now, you get me all night" she reminded him with a smirk.

"Don't I know it." Aaron said returning the smirk. "Hey, I meant to say I'd left a bottle in your drawer—"

"I'm working my first Congressional vote Aaron, that bottle is long gone" she said with a chuckle.

"About that… I know you're going to need a few republicans and I know you're facing an uphill climb. What if we could help?" Aaron asked.

"Hookstraten?" Emily asked with a raised eyebrow.

"She's republican and she is speaker—"

"—of the house. How is she going to influence Senators?" Emily asked.

"You know there's some soft spots in the Senate, moderates who aren't really opposed to background checks, they're just afraid to cross Bowman." Aaron explained.

Emily nodded before taking a drink and raising her eyebrow; "I'm listening."

"If these senators can be reassured there's a home for them in the party, someone has their back come election time, they might have a reason to vote the bill through."

"And what's in it for Hookstraten?"

Aaron sat up straighter in his chair; "Think about it"

"… Vice President." Emily said in a light bulb moment. "She's been gunning for that job since day one."

"And now's her opportunity."

"Well thank goodness she has you as her chief strategist to realise the opportunity is reachable." Emily said as she finished her drink. "You know, maybe you working for Hookstraten isn't so bad after all."

"Either way, I'm always on Kirkman's side. On your side." Aaron made clear.

"I know. But uh… I'm not really onboard yet. How about we take this to my place and you can convince me some more?" Emily suggested as Aaron quickly downed his drink.

"You read my mind." Aaron said as Emily giggled. Aaron lifted her bag and handed it to her as he guided her towards the door, ready to whole heartedly convince her of Hookstraten's proposal.

* * *

After an evening of celebrating, Emily made her way through the West Wing parking lot, ready to get a good night's sleep after successfully winning the vote. She was proud of the work she had done today. It was days like this that she knew this job was worthwhile, that she could truly make a difference.

As she lifted her keys to unlock her car, she looked up and smiled softly when she saw Aaron leaning against her car.

"Can't stay away huh?" Emily teased, noting how many times Aaron had been in the White House since he'd left.

"From you? Never." He responded with a smirk as Emily smiled widely and looked at her feet. "I believe congratulations are in order. They're calling it a big win for the President."

"And for the speaker. She took a big risk and it paid off." Emily added, knowing they may not have won this without Hookstraten's support.

"Yeah, we're not feeling so bad about it. We'll have to do it again sometime." He replied as he moved from the car and stood in front of her.

"Oh definitely." Emily replied raising her eyebrows. "Do you remember Grady Cooper from high school?"

"Yeah he works for the Governor of Colorado, right?" Aaron asked, knowing exactly who he was.

"Yeah, I saw him today, I managed to convince him to get the governor to vote yes." Emily said with a proud smile.

Aaron chuckled; "Grady would do anything he asked you to do, he's always had the biggest crush on you."

Emily furrowed her eyebrows; "What? No, he hasn't."

"Are you kidding? The guy can barely contain himself when he's around you, he's got the cheesiest grin on his face." Aaron said with a bitter tone in his voice.

Emily tilted her head slightly before smirking at Aaron. "Aaron Shore, are you _jealous_?"

"What? No, no—I don't get jealous." Aaron said confidently.

"Just like you were never worried when I was in Michigan?" Emily asked with a raised eyebrow.

Aaron remained silent, knowing that there was no point trying to fight this one, Emily Rhodes could read him like a map.

"Let—let's just go" Aaron said trying to divert the subject.

Emily chuckled as he turned away; "Aaron" she called after him.

He turned around and Emily stepped forward, resting a hand on his neck before reaching up and kissing him.

"Wow, that was very public" Aaron teased as Emily smiled.

"Worried Aaron, jealous Aaron, any Aaron… I love him very much." She said sincerely as Aaron smiled and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Let's get out of here" he said as they walked side by side away from the White House.

* * *

"So, you and Aaron…" Seth asked as he walked into Emily's office the next day.

"What about us?" Emily asked as she continued to work.

"You worked together on this congressional vote, no blood was spilled—are you two friends again?"

 _Well, they were more than friends_ , but it was still new and personal and they wanted to keep it on the down low for as long as possible, even if that meant keeping it a secret from their friends and family.

"Yeah. We're good. We're friends." Emily said with a shrug, hoping she managed to maintain a good poker face.

"Hm. Vague." Seth commented as Emily rolled her eyes and leant back in her chair.

"Seriously?"

"I really thought you two would work it out this time. For real."

 _They had worked it out._

"Well, if we ever do work it out you'll be the first to know." Emily said as she lifted her papers and left her office.

"You're walking away, you're avoiding any more questions, you're not giving me the full story." Seth commented again, knowing there was more to this.

"I've given you my answer Seth, take it or leave it." Emily said as she walked out the door, but he was hot on her tail.

"Ok, I'll just ask Aaron, he has an even worse poker face than you." Seth reminded her.

 _Not about this he won't._

"Why is it so difficult for you to believe that Aaron and I could be just friends again? We've done it for the past 15 years, why would now be any different?"

"There are few things that are clear cut in this world. Especially in Washington. Among those few things—Kimble Hookstraten is a bulldog, Tom Kirkman is the most honest man in politics, Grady Cooper has been obsessed with Emily Rhodes since high school and… Aaron Shore and Emily Rhodes never have been and never will be just friends." Seth informed her as she raised her eyebrows and scoffed.

"Keen observations Seth." Emily said as she walked down the hallway.

"I'm onto you Rhodes!"

* * *

A few weeks later, Emily decided to take some of her staff out for a drink while the President was away at the NATO summit. As she looked around the bar for a server, she stopped when she saw Aaron. A small smile rose to her face, but then she noticed him with a girl. A girl she hadn't seen before. She took a breath before turning back to her staffers.

"Will you guys excuse me for a second?" she said as she stood up and as casually as possible, walked over to her boyfriend and this girl.

Even just seeing him sitting there sent butterflies through her stomach. She inwardly rolled her eyes and how mushy Aaron Shore made her, but she couldn't help it.

She cleared her throat before greeting him; "Hey you" she said cheerfully, as Aaron's head perked, and his face lit up at the sound of her voice. He smiled widely at her, wanting to kiss her more than anything. He'd seen her this morning but already it felt like a lifetime.

"Hey!" he greeted as he settled for a kiss on the cheek and a hug. "It's good to see you" he said formally, not wanting anyone to get any ideas. "Oh, Emily Rhodes, my cousin Nadia Espinosa."

Nadia's head perked up when she realised it was Aaron's Emily who had just walked to the table.

"Cousin?" Emily said trying to not sound too surprised and relieved. "Hi. It's nice to meet you. You work for Congresswoman Yoshida, right?" Emily asked, remembering Aaron telling her.

Nadia smiled, flattered that the White House Chief of Staff knew who she was. "Yeah, yeah. It's nice to meet you too, Aaron's told me _a lot_ about you" she said smirking at her cousin as Emily and Aaron laughed awkwardly.

"Has he now?" Emily said, folding her arms. "All good things I hope."

"Of course." Nadia said with a sincere nod. "I uh… I'm going to get another beer, do you guys want anything?" she asked, sensing Aaron and Emily wanted a moment alone.

The both politely declined before Nadia made her way to the bar.

"Hey, you know you're the highest ranking official in the White House right now?" Aaron said, taking a subtle step closer towards her.

"Hm, I know, the White House is all mine. You impressed?" she said quirking an eyebrow.

Aaron chuckled "Incredibly."

"Well, I'm no minor leaguer that's for sure." She teased.

"Never have been. But seriously, POTUS is out of the country, first time, polls are high, he's on a roll. So are you."

"I have to admit, it feels good." Emily said with a smile. "We uh—we haven't had a chance to talk about Hookstraten getting the Secretary of Education gig. You going to follow her?" Emily asked.

"I don't think so, I can't really see myself working for the Secretary of Education. Once you've worked in the White house, everything feels like a step down." Aaron replied truthfully.

"Well, you know I wasn't opposed to Hookstraten as VP. I would have loved to be working together again." Emily replied.

"I don't know Rhodes, being in the West Wing together all day? I think you'd struggle to keep your hands off me…" he teased as Emily rolled her eyes.

"Shut up…"

"But you never know. It's Washington so anything can happen." Aaron reminded her.

"I think we're proof that it usually does." Emily replied as Aaron looked her up and down, not quite believing that she was his.

"You know, one day, me and you will be public knowledge." Aaron reminded her, knowing they couldn't, and didn't want to, keep this from people.

"Oh yeah?" she asked wondering where he was going with this.

"I kind of can't wait for that to happen" Aaron responded as Emily quirked an eyebrow.

"Why?"

Aaron quirked the corner of his mouth and took just another tantalising step towards her, causing her breath to catch in her throat. "Cause then I can kiss you whenever and wherever I want" Emily looked straight at him with, trying to hide her smile. For anyone looking closely enough, it was abundantly clear that Emily Rhodes and Aaron Shore were hopelessly in love and had been for a very long time.

"See you tonight?" he asked quietly.

"Definitely" she said with a teasing smirk before turning around and walking away, leaving Aaron wishing tonight would arrive already.

* * *

 **Don't forget to review...**


	43. Worth It

**Thank you for all your reviews! They keep me going and I am just loving writing this.**

 **Oranakka—check out chapters 3 and 16 for Emily and Aaron finally getting together!**

 **Also, chapter 4 and 7 for their relationship being revealed to Washington and their friends.**

 **This chapter is based on 2x14 during the blackout… enjoy!**

* * *

 **Worth It**

* * *

"Hey" Emily greeted Aaron as she caught up with him the hallway.

"Hey, what's up?" Aaron asked, happy to see her after a long morning.

"Kirkman's being stubborn about VP, so I can sense it's probably going to be a long night." Emily explained with a sigh. Today was not the day she wanted to be stuck in the White House.

"Yeah, Damien is proving particularly difficult too, should I call Vivienne and ask if she can take Lexie tonight?" Aaron asked, knowing the nanny wouldn't want to stay any longer past 8.

"She's already taking her tonight, remember?" Emily said eyeing him curiously.

Aaron furrowed his eyebrows, not remembering at all that Vivienne was taking Lexie for the night. "Uh… sure, yeah." He said with glaring uncertainty in his voice.

Emily stopped in her treks and stood in front of Aaron, with her arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

"Is this part of your plan?" Emily asked.

Aaron grew more and more confused by the second. "Plan?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"You play dumb about what today is and then you surprise me with something beautiful and romantic?" Emily asked.

 _What was she talking about?_ Aaron thought, still not clicking things into place.

He decided to play along until he could work out what she was getting at. "I guess you'll have to wait and find out." He said with a teasing smirk that she returned.

"I guess so" she replied. "I'll see you later handsome" she said with a wink before turning and walking away.

Aaron ran a hand down his face when she rounded the corner, wondering how he was going to fix this one—whatever it was.

* * *

That night, Aaron was frantically calling Emily in a desperate bid to say a preemptive sorry for whatever he had forgotten, but she was proving to be unreachable in the middle of this black out.

His mind had been elsewhere majority of the day considering Kirkman had just named him acting Chief of Staff in Emily's absence, but in the moments he had to himself, he was ratting his brain for what he could have forgotten.

He strided through the West Wing hallway, frantically typing messages to Emily when he caught up with Seth.

"Hey Seth, have you heard from Emily?" Aaron asked.

"Nope, they were meeting with Minister Omono at state, right?" Seth asked.

"Yeah, but it's not like either Lyor or Emily to be be out of touch—" Aaron said, growing increasingly worried.

"They probably got caught up with traffic on the way back and if traffic lights are down then a few miles can turn into a few hours." Seth suggested.

"Right, yeah" Aaron said, not entirely convinced by Seth's explanation.

"Looks like you're going to have to cancel those big plans for tonight." Seth said as Aaron halted in his tracks.

 _Big plans? What big plans? What was going on?!_

"Right… yeah…" Aaron said again, even less convincing than the first time.

"Oh my god… you forgot" Seth said catching onto Aaron's confusion.

"What? No, no, I didn't—ok yes I forgot, but I don't even know what I've forgotten!" Aaron confessed.

Seth laughed; "You're on your own with this one man." He said as he started to walk on.

Aaron quickly caught up with him. "You'd seriously leave me in the dog house?" Aaron said. "I'm technically your boss right now, you've got to do as I say, what have I forgotten?"

"No can do. You'll work it out eventually." Seth said with a smirk.

"You suck." Aaron said under his breath. "I want your statement on the blackout ASAP." Aaron said firmly as he stopped at Emily's office door.

"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" Seth joked as he walked on.

Aaron walked into Emily's office and walked over to her desk to leave a note for her in case he was caught up with something when she got back. As he lifted the pen and pad, he noticed a card with his name on it, sitting on top of a book.

He lifted the book and smiled softly in wonder and amazement at it. How did she get this?

"What are you doing?" he heard at the door as he looked up like a deer caught in headlights.

He saw Lenny smirking at him with her arms folded across her chest.

"Lenny. Em's not here—"

"I can see that. I don't think you were supposed to find that." Lenny said as she walked towards him.

"This is a limited-edition copy of The Great Gatsby. I love The Great Gatsby, it's my favourite book." Aaron commented.

"She knows, that's why she bought it." Lenny said as if it were obvious, taking the book from him and setting it back down on the table.

"Why did she—oh crap." Aaron said as his eyes widened. He realised what he'd missed he realised what he'd forgotten. How could he be so stupid?

" _It's our anniversary."_ Aaron said.

"Ah, he finally tunes into the station!" Lenny exclaimed, knowing Aaron had been trying to figure it out all day.

"I forgot our anniversary. How the hell did I forget?!"

Lenny sighed, feeling a little sympathy in that moment. "You're the National Security Adviser and there are constant fires to put out around here, not to mention you have a baby, so I think it's understandable that your mind would be elsewhere."

"She thinks I'm tricking her. There is no trick. What the hell am I going to do?"

"Well, luckily for you, she's AWOL at the moment so you have plenty of time to sort something."

"We're in the middle of a hacking crisis Lenny, there is no time to sort something." Aaron reminded her.

"Right… I guess you could grovel?" she said with a grimace, acknowledging that Aaron probably couldn't worm his way out of this one.

Aaron sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "It's going to be long night."

* * *

Aaron was right in saying that it was going to be a long night—especially for Emily. She would must rather be celebrating her anniversary with Aaron than stuck in an elevator with Lyor. She would much rather be doing anything other than being stuck in an elevator with Lyor.

They had tried to bang on the door, but it was no use because they building was empty, they figured the best thing to do now would be to wait for the power to come back.

They sat on the floor and Emily went through her bag to see if she had anything useful in there.

"Half a roll of Mentos, some baby wipes and nappy rash ointment… can you tell I have a baby?" Emily half joked as she handed Lyor the Mentos. "My battery's at 14%, we'll need to use yours."

"No can do, I checked it in with security so I wouldn't have to take it through the metal detector. Radiation degrades is circuitry."

"Great, I'm going to die in a metal coffin with a lunatic." Emily said with a glare as Lyor chuckled.

"It's ok, you won't even know that you're dead." Lyor told her.

Emily sighed; "I can't say that I'm quite ready to check out yet Lyor."

"Hmm, yes, you have much to accomplish in Washington." Lyor noted.

"I was thinking more about my husband and my daughter. It's our anniversary today" Emily told him.

"Hmm… that explains why Aaron was walking around the White House earlier looking incredibly confused." Lyor noted.

"What?" Emily asked.

"He forgot, right?"

Emily's eyes widened. Aaron wouldn't forget, right? "No, no, he—he wouldn't forget."

"Let me guess… you thought he was pretending to forget and he played along with it, so you wouldn't get mad at him? Classic." Lyor said with a chuckle.

Emily sighed; "he forgot." She concluded, knowing that if Aaron remembered he would have made a much bigger deal out of it.

"Don't worry, he's like every other male on the planet. Initially you think they're great but soon enough, they disappoint you."

Emily looked at Lyor slightly shocked by his comment. "A little harsh Lyor."

"Hmm, that may be so, but you think the world of Aaron Shore don't you?"

Emily smiled softly and looked down at her feet; "We have a very complicated past but uh… he and Lexie are probably the best thing to ever happen to me."

"Huh." Lyor said, not really understanding why it was so great. "I mean—I'm sure maybe I'll understand why one day, but right now… no, I don't get it." He commented as Emily rolled her eyes. "The best thing to happen to you really isn't your job?"

"No, Lyor." Emily said quickly.

Lyor's face looked up as he had a light bulb moment. "You're good at your job. You have much to accomplish…" he said absentmindedly.

"So you've said" Emily replied sarcastically.

"You'd have to avoid scandal, which shouldn't be a problem for you. You're a perfectionist, never a toe out of line and you're apparently truly in love with your husband so you're not going to step out on him—"

"Where is this going?"

"You're fundamentally boring."

"Boring?!" Emily said, offended that he would go there. "Just because I'm smart doesn't make me boring—"

"No, it's a good thing, it means your uncontroversial. You'd have to run for lower state first of course—"

"Lyor, can you pretend like you know how to have a conversation with a normal human being?"

"I'm saying—you could be President."

Emily raised her eyebrows; "That's crazy."

"No, it's not. You have the world sitting at your feet Emily. You're the youngest Chief of Staff in history, the first female one. You have more policy chops than anyone except me. You are mildly awkward, but in an endearing way, that will actually draw voters.

"I am not—" Emily began to protest, but when she thought about it, she knew she was a little awkward. One only had to look at her messy relationship with Aaron to see that. "Lyor, I don't want to be President."

"Why not?"

"Because I am not a politician. I'm not here for the ego boost, I'm not here to have my whole life scrutinised—"

"You opened yourself up to that scrutiny when you married the National Security Adviser." Lyor commented. "You seemed to be ok with opening yourself up to that."

Emily sighed. She hated that her relationship was often plastered across the tabloids. It was nobody's business but hers.

"When I married Aaron, I wasn't thinking about tabloids or the scrutiny we would get. I married him because I loved him, because I wanted a life with him and all the crap that is in the papers is completely worth what we have together." Emily told him. "I come to the White House, I have the most chaotic day—but then I get to go home to this man that I have loved for 15 years and our beautiful girl, and all the chaos is thrown out the window and I can feel normal and peaceful and joyful. That is worth anything a news hungry press can throw at me."

Lyor simply nodded, realising that maybe this love thing wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

After numerous hours, the lights and power finally went back on and Emily and Lyor escaped from the elevator. Emily picked Lexie up from Vivienne on her way home, so she could actually spend some time with her daughter before having to get back to work. By the time she got home, Lexie had managed to fall asleep on the drive, so she put her in her crib and gazed at her perfect brown-haired girl for a few moments, before quietly made her way to her bedroom.

When she opened the door to the bedroom, she saw Aaron lying on his back, still in his suit, dozing. She understood that feeling, and immediately kicked off her shoes and climbed onto the bed beside him.

She rested her head on his chest and her arm around his torso and he instinctively wrapped his arms around her, as he kissed her head.

"Boy am I glad you're here." He grumbled in his dozy state.

"Right back at ya" Emily replied with a soft smile. "I missed you" she said quietly.

"I missed you too. Though I do believe I owe you an apology…" Aaron said. "I'm sorry I forgot our anniversary."

"Don't be. I think our lives our hectic enough that forgetting a date is perfectly understandable." Emily responded as she allowed her eyes to close.

"Well, to make up for it…" he said as he reached over to his beside cabinet. He lifted a delicate little box and handed it to Emily.

"You got me a present? In the middle of the night?" Emily said, lifting her head slightly to look at him, curious as to how he found the time, or the shop to do this.

Aaron smirked; "I have my ways." He responded. He had plenty of connections around Washington and plenty of favours that needed returned, so he cashed one in and got Emily the gift he had always intended to get her for their anniversary.

Emily opened the box and smiled widely at what she saw.

A Washington DC charm for her bracelet, fit with the American flag and the White House.

"Washington" she whispered as she ran her finger over the charm.

"Your favourite place on Earth" Aaron said, remembering her telling him that many moons ago.

Emily set the box down and snuggled into Aaron's chest further as he held her closer. "I think right here in this bed with you is my favourite place on Earth."

"I'm not sure they do a charm for that…" Aaron teased as Emily smirked and swatted him lightly in the stomach.

"Thank you. Love you very much Aaron Shore." Emily said as he smiled against her head.

"I love you more." He responded.

"We have to be back at work in an hour" Emily groaned, not wanting to leave this spot.

"That's plenty of time for a quick nap—" Aaron began, but before they could drift off to sleep, Lexie started crying from her room.

Aaron sighed and ran a hand down his face; "Believe it or not, I missed those cries last night." He said as he got out of bed.

"Oh me too" Emily confirmed as she climbed under the duvet. "We're officially dorky parents now, your terrible dad jokes are justified."

"Hey, Lexie is going to love those dad jokes." Aaron said defensively.

"Sure she will" Emily said with a chuckle as she snuggled into her bed. "She'll love them because she loves you."

"… and cause they're actually funny" Aaron added on.

"Go pick her up Aaron" Emily mumbled as Aaron smirked and left the room, loving that he and Emily were dorky parents and forever would be.


	44. Toxic Masculinity

**This chapter is ba** **sed on 2x16 and 2x17… enjoy!**

* * *

 **Toxic Masculinity**

* * *

Emily, Aaron and Lyor walked through the White House after their meeting in the PEOC, unsure how they felt about the President's war decisions. They had limited facts, and Lyor was concerned over how bad it was making the administration look.

"A SEAL team only the President wanted inserted?" Lyor asked in disbelief. "Why invade a country if we're winning from the air?"

"We're not winning Lyor. We're weakening enemy resolve." Aaron responded, not entirely convinced by Kirkman's plan either.

"Which is winning—"

"And special forces is not an invasion—"

"No, it's just a prelude to one." Lyor said as Emily continued to type away on her phone, her mind elsewhere from the conversation that was going on around her.

She wasn't quite sure how her day could have gone down hill so fast, but here she was, trying to deal with the fact there was a dirty bomb on US soil that placed the country on a war footing and that she leaked something to the press that she really should not have leaked.

She was broken out of her texting trance when Lyor and Aaron's exchange began to get more heated.

"Aaron, you should be talking sense to him." Lyor noted.

Aaron sighed; "What do you want me to say, Lyor doesn't like the optics?"

"What I don't like is war, and the longer this goes on the more likely the President's mandate will be one of casualty. Our job is to prevent that from happening—"

" _Your_ job." Aaron said forcefully as he pointed at Lyor, " _My_ job is to co-ordinate military policy."

Emily rolled her eyes, not in the mood for a pissing contest in the middle of the West Wing right now.

"One thing I haven't figured out is what the hell is it you actually do here?" Aaron asked as Emily looked at him shocked by his boldness.

"Aaron." She warned with a clenched jaw, but Lyor was quick to jump in and defend himself.

"I make everyone look good. I should charge you _double_." Lyor responded as Aaron gritted his teeth.

"Lyor!" Emily scolded, not impressed with the toxic masculinity that was invading the corridor. "Seriously guys, we are on a war footing, it is forward march together!" she said as she walked into her office and Aaron quickly followed.

"You need to be nicer to Lyor." Emily said as she moved some files from her desk into a drawer.

"I have to be nicer? He's the one who—"

"I don't care, Aaron." Emily interrupted, holding her hand up. "We're not in high school, there was far too much testosterone in that corridor—"

"He's—"

"Brilliant." Emily said, finishing his sentence before Aaron could say something rude. "We need him and he knows a little something about bad dads too so you have a lot more in common than you think." Emily added, remembering her talk with Lyor in the elevator.

"Fine." Aaron said bitterly, setting his file down on the table with an audible smack, wanting to drop this subject entirely. "But I think I'll avoid sharing daddy sob stories." Aaron said. He didn't like to talk about his dad with anyone let along Lyor. "I just got off the phone with your mom before the PEOC meeting. Lexie's fine, doesn't seem to miss us at all." Aaron told her. Emily's parents had been visiting for the past few days and as soon as they heard there was a dirty bomb somewhere nearby, Aaron and Emily immediately wanted to get Lexie and put her in the bunker with them, but they knew that was not possible right now, so they asked Emily's parents to take Lexie to their house in Connecticut until they knew it was safe.

"Good" Emily simply said as she sighed, not wanting to look him in the eye.

Aaron shifted where he stood and put his hands in his pockets, knowing that something was wrong. "What's going on?" Aaron asked, but Emily merely folded her arms and looked at her feet. "Are you worried about Lexie? She's fine Emily, she's safe—"

"I know, but there is something a little unnerving to a mother when she can't be with her child when there is a bomb floating around DC and when her boss declares war." Emily responded. "I knew being a mother and having this job would be hard, but I never anticipated being stuck here with my daughter out there, no protection—"

"Emily stop. She is perfectly safe, safer than we are right now. Just breathe" Aaron said as he walked towards her and ran his hands down her arms.

He noticed that Emily's expression had remained solemn and he took a step back to look at her properly. "Emily. What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing—"

"Emily, I can read you like a map, don't lie to me. What aren't you telling me?" He asked again, growing more concerned and frustrated by Emily's silence.

"I did something. I thought it was the right thing to do at the time, but now I'm thinking that I may have missed the bigger picture entirely."

"Ok, well what was that something?" Aaron asked.

"I leaked information to the press about Cornelius Moss being the mole in the White House and—I didn't exactly obtain that information legally." Emily confessed quietly.

Aaron sighed and ran a hand down his face; "Emily—" he began.

Emily raised her hand and stopped him; "I don't need a lecture from you Aaron, I know it was stupid—"

"This could cost you your job." Aaron informed her.

Emily nodded. "I know. I just—over the past few months I've just felt everything spinning out of control. I've been acting completely out of character, thinking I'm right, but—I'm not the Emily that got this job. I'm not the same person and while I may think I'm doing what's best the protect the president—I'm not sure that I am anymore."

"Emily, the president values you more than anyone."

"I don't think he'll value me all that much when he finds out the truth. When I came to the White House he told me he just needed me to be myself… but I'm starting to think that I can't do that in this job." Emily replied honestly.

"You need to speak to Kendra—"

"Kendra is in no mood to help me Aaron, she was pretty pissed when she realised I was the leak." Emily informed him.

"Well that's too bad, it's her job to help you and if she won't Lenny will, she's just as good a lawyer-" Aaron said, allowing himself to get worked up.

"Aaron, stop, you're getting worked up—" Emily said holding up a hand.

"When I leaked the Al Sakar video, I didn't lose my job, in fact, I got promoted, so you're not going to lose your job over this. No way in hell." Aaron said, making it perfectly clear he wasn't about to let this go without a fight.

Emily reached up and kissed Aaron before resting her forehead against his.

"I love you" she said quietly; "but right now, this is the least of our worries. We'll deal with it when it comes, for now—let's end this war and bring our girl home." Emily said as Aaron nodded.

* * *

"So Gregory Bowen was a bad guy." Lyor commented as he and Aaron watched the news in the canteen. The war had ended and the emir's son had taken over, but Lyor didn't know how to deal with the fact that Bowen was in on it. He never expected to be right.

"You've been saying that all along." Aaron reminded him.

"Yeah… but how are he and I different? We're both mercenaries. He just fell in with the wrong money. Ambition took hold. It could have been me."

Aaron sighed and thought about what Emily had said to him about Lyor earlier. They needed him, and Aaron definitely could be nicer.

"No, not a chance." Aaron commented as he continued to eat his orange.

"Oh yeah? How do you know?"

"Because beneath the neuroses and the clawing perfectionism, the candour that makes all of us want to take a bat to your head—"

"If this is a pep talk, it's no Bueno—"

"I'm saying… you have a streak of decency." Aaron said, not finding it as difficult as he thought he would to say something nice about Lyor. "Bowen doesn't. You'll never be him."

Lyor nodded once, appreciating Aaron's words. "I get it now"

"Get what?"

"What Emily sees in you." Lyor said, clearly having no intention of diluting his candour in that moment.

"Oh really?" Aaron said sitting back in his chair.

"At first, I thought she must be shallow and have fallen for the Greek God physique and then when I officially met you, I thought it was the dry humour and then when I met your daughter, I thought it was because you made incredibly cute babies—" Lyor rhymed off as Aaron scoffed in amusement at Lyor's observations. "But I guess you have a stroke of decency in you too."

"Thanks Lyor." Aaron said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Are we supposed to hug now?" Lyor asked as Aaron smirked and laughed. "Cause I don't do that."

"No, we get the hell out of here, my incredibly cute daughter is on her way back to Washington and I would very much like to see her." Aaron said as he stood from his chair.

Before he could go any further, his phone rang and he and Lyor were urgently needed in Chuck's office.

President Kirkman's therapy notes had been leaked, and there were very few people who knew about the sessions. The race was on to find the hack as the outcome was not looking good for one of Kirkman's senior staff.


	45. Robert Shore

**Robert Shore**

* * *

It was the night of the White House Correspondent's dinner and everyone was excited. It promised to be a good night, and the White House senior staff were looking forward to having a nice dinner with their friends and colleagues.

Aaron and Emily were particularly excited. They were treating it as a semi-date night, considering they didn't get many of those. While Emily still had to ensure things ran smoothly, most of the responsibility fell to Seth and she was grateful.

As Aaron and Emily walked through the dining hall that evening, Emily stopped to talk to an old college friend while Aaron surveyed the room. He saw some old friends from New York and Washington that he was going to speak to, but before he could turn to Emily and tell her, he did a double take at a face he had not seen in years—and froze.

He was laughing and smiling and shaking the hands of the people around him with a beautiful woman hanging onto his arm. _Him_. The man he hadn't seen since he was 7 years old. The dead-beat dad who walked out on him and his mother and brother was standing in his place of work. He was standing in the White House and Aaron couldn't believe the odds. _What the hell was he doing here?_

Aaron probably wouldn't have recognised him, but he saw his face pop up in the paper every now and again for his successes in the oil business in Texas. Apart from that, he knew nothing about this man. He knew nothing of the life he made for himself since he left and now he was here. At the White House Correspondent's Dinner—and Aaron didn't know what to do.

He felt frozen, then flustered, then frozen again. He felt stuffy and uncomfortable all of a sudden as he pulled at his collar lightly. Did his dad even know he was here? Did he even know he worked at the White House? Did he come here expecting to run into his son?

Emily finished talking to her friend and Seth and Lenny walked over. Her smile fell from her face when she saw how pale Aaron looked, as she looked at her two friends who looked just as concerned.

"Hey—you ok?" Emily asked as she placed her hand on his arm.

"I—I gotta go." Aaron said dozily as he ran a hand down his face and turned and walked away.

"Aaron!" Emily called after him.

"What was that about?" Lenny asked as Emily turned around.

"I don't—oh my god." Emily said as she looked in the direction Aaron had been looking, her eyes widening.

She had never met Aaron's dad, she had never even seen a picture of him, but from the moment she saw the man with the beautiful blonde bombshell on his arm, she knew exactly who he was— _he was Aaron's doppelganger._

"What?" Seth asked.

"That—that couple—" Emily said as they walked towards the three of them.

"Oh, Jacqueline Murphy she's a journalist with the Dallas Morning News. She used to work for the Washington Post but then she married this Texas oil tycoon Robert Shore and moved to Dallas." Seth rhymed off as Lenny's face fell, the dots connecting in her head as they both looked at Seth, waiting for the dots to connect with him too.

He looked down at the two girls and looked at them confused. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

They both looked at him with even more shocked expressions that it wasn't clicking with him. He looked between the girls and the couple that were making a beeline for them a few times before his face fell.

"Oh my god" he said as he realised. _Robert Shore was Aaron Shore's dad. His dead-beat dad._

"Mr Press Secretary" Jacqueline greeted happily as she shook Seth's hand.

"Ms Murphy, it's been a long time." Seth greeted with a forced smile as Emily looked around her for Aaron, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Let me introduce you to the President's Chief of Staff Emily Rhodes and a member of his counsel Eleanor Kennedy." Seth introduced as Emily and Lenny shook hands with Jacqueline.

"Pleasure to meet you both. You're doing such wonderful work with President Kirkman." Jacqueline praised, shining her pearly white teeth. They certainly were a glamourous and wealthy looking couple. "This is my husband Robert Shore."

"Miss Kennedy, Mr Wright… Miss Rhodes." He greeted, pausing slightly before shaking Emily's hand. It was in that moment Emily realised Robert knew exactly who she was, and he knew that his son was somewhere in this building.

"Mr Shore" Emily said with a gulp.

"You uh—you work in the oil business, right?" Lenny asked, trying to diffuse the obvious tension.

"Yes, I do, I have since I was a boy" he said with a bright smile.

Emily couldn't quite believe that Aaron's dad was standing in front of her, smiling brightly, looking like he didn't have a care in the world. He certainly didn't look like he cared about the difficult position he put his son in tonight. But then again, Emily wasn't all that surprised. The way Aaron and his mother had spoken about Robert did not place him in a good light. He seemed like a charming man to outsiders looking in, he knew when to put on a show. But he was an arrogant man, a controlling man and a man Aaron knew he was better off without.

While Emily didn't know him, she probably guessed he didn't bat an eyelash about coming tonight. He didn't think of the consequences. All he thought about was that he had gotten an invite to the White House and he was sure as hell going to take it and have a good time.

What Emily wanted to know was whether his wife knew about his past. About his sons and whether she knew one of them was here tonight.

"Excuse me, I need to check everything's still running on schedule." Emily said, the best excuse she could come up with to leave.

"Of course, Miss Rhodes." Robert quickly jumped in. "I hope to speak to you later on tonight." He said, flashing her a smaller but none the less dazzling smile.

What could he possibly have to say to her? She wasn't interested in his excuses.

Emily nodded once before giving a tight-lipped smile. She looked discretely at her friends before quickly leaving the ball room to find Aaron.

* * *

After checking his office, it didn't take Emily long to work out where Aaron was. Whenever he was stressed or worked up, he always found some solace in the Rose Garden. Just sitting by the fountain allowed him to be still and clear his thoughts and prepare for what to do next.

Emily made her way outside and stopped when she saw Aaron, standing by the fountain, his hands in his pockets, lightly kicking the grass beneath him. She couldn't remember a time when he looked so lost and vulnerable.

She took a breath before taking her heels off and walking towards him. As she approached him, he looked down at her and chuckled.

"Losing the shoes already?" he asked.

"I've been waiting to take them off since the moment I put them on." Emily said returning his chuckle. "And I don't think the gardeners would look to fondly upon holes in the ground from my heels." She added.

After a momentary silence, Aaron decided to break it by diverting from what he knew was coming. "We should uh—we should probably get back inside, things will be starting soon and no doubt the president will be looking for you—"

"We've got time" Emily said calmly. "And I'm not really needed, Seth can handle things."

Aaron nodded before looking down at his feet. He then looked up at Emily who was just looking at the water, not saying anything, not giving him any kind of look.

"You're being quiet." Aaron noted.

"Uh huh." She simply replied.

"It's unnerving."

"I figured it was better than prying. When you're ready to talk you'll talk." Emily said with a little shrug.

Aaron smiled down at her. She looked so beautiful standing there with the reflection off the water hitting her face. Yet what was more beautiful to him in that moment was her quiet spirit. Her understanding not to pry. Her understanding that he would talk about it when he was ready.

He and Emily never really talked about his dad. There wasn't much to talk about, Aaron didn't really remember him and what he did remember was not good.

They stood in a peaceful silence for a few moments before Aaron decided he was ready to say something.

"I haven't seen him in 26 years." He simply said. "26 years of complete silence while he made an amazing life for himself and we lived from paycheque to paycheque… and now he turns up here, with his dazzling smile and pretty wife—without a care in the world. Without a care of the damage he could cause by coming here. I don't know what to do Emily. I don't know whether to talk to him, I don't know whether to leave—"

"No. You're not leaving. He doesn't get to have that power over you, he doesn't get to have any power over you." Emily said shaking her head. "This is your place, not his."

"Do you think he even knows that I'm here?" Aaron asked quietly.

"He and his wife came over to speak to us and when he looked at me—he knew exactly who I was, so I would place money on him knowing you're here." Emily replied.

Aaron nodded softly. "What do I do Emily?" he asked, the pain and fear written all over his face. He felt like he was 7 years old again, not understanding why his own father didn't want him. When he couldn't have his unconditional love.

Emily turned to face him as she fiddled with the lapels of his tux.

"You're going to go in there with a smile on your face because you are here to enjoy your evening with your wife and with your friends." Emily said. "I don't know whether he's going to try and talk to you, I don't know whether you'll have that opportunity, but if you do— you're going to make it clear that you have the most wonderful life. You're not going to let him think that he has had any power or control over you for the last 26 years because you are Aaron Shore. You are the smartest, strongest, wisest, kindest, most loving man I know, and you are all those things in spite of him." Emily encouraged as tears formed in both of their eyes.

Aaron hated being so vulnerable and Emily's heart was breaking for him as he looked so broken.

"I know that it's probably the last thing you want to do right now but—I think you'd regret not going back in there." Emily added. "You deserve not to have any what ifs."

Aaron nodded his head as he lifted Emily's hand and kissed it.

"What did I do to deserve you?" he asked quietly.

"You were your wonderful self." Emily replied. "Come on, let's get inside." She said as she linked her arm through his.

* * *

A few moments later they had returned to the ball room, mustering the most friendly smiles that they could. As Aaron spoke to some journalists, Lenny approached Emily.

"Is he ok?" Lenny asked.

"He's a little shaken and surprised to see him, but he's ok." Emily said, downplaying how Aaron was feeling in this particular moment. "Where is he?"

"He's sitting at the back of the room, he won't be anywhere near Aaron." Lenny told her.

"He came here, for the first time in the 20 odd years that he and Jaqueline have been married, just as Aaron starts to work here? Either he's trying to make amends or he's trying to find a way to undermine his own son." Emily commented cynically as she looked to the back of the room to see Robert staring right at her.

"You really think he's going to try something?"

"I don't think it's a coincidence that he's here and from what I know of his character, I can't see him being here for good reasons."

"We'll keep him away from Aaron." Lenny said with certainty, as she turned to tell the secret service, but Emily stopped her.

"No. This is Aaron's to see through, he doesn't want people fighting in his corner. If his dad comes to talk to him, he comes to talk to him, if he doesn't—then the world is a better place for it." Emily said as she turned back to Aaron, hoping they could just enjoy their evening.

* * *

Aaron sat in the hall after all the guests had left. It had been a good night in the end. Unnerving, but good. He kept waiting for his father to come and tap him on the shoulder, but he never did. Maybe, he just wasn't interested, and he was here for his wife, who Emily had informed him was a journalist.

He was about to get up and find Emily so they could go home when he heard a voice behind him.

"My, my. Hasn't my son done well for himself."

Aaron froze, before taking a breath and slowly turning around to come face to face with the man who abandoned him.

"You uh—you use the word son. Implying that you know what it means to you, but uh—something tells me that's not true." Aaron said bitterly.

Robert sniggered lightly before sticking his hands in his pockets. "I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree in the looks department. I'd know you were my boy anywhere."

Robert wasn't wrong. He and Aaron were eerily alike. The same curly hair—though Robert's had turned grey now—same tall, athletic build, same deep brown eyes. It's like Robert was looking into his past and Aaron was looking into his future.

"Believe me, the apple falls very far from the tree." Aaron countered, as he took put his hands in his pockets and stood up taller.

"I was very impressed when I saw you'd made Chief of Staff Aaron. Not many men your age can say they've achieved something to quite the same standard." Robert complimented. "What happened to make you leave?"

"That's not information I can—or want—to share with you." Aaron continued to snipe.

"Well—you're back now as National Security Adviser. That's pretty impressive too." Robert added. "I had the pleasure of meeting your wife earlier. She seems great."  
"She is great." He said with a shrug. He didn't need Robert telling him his wife was great, he knew that, in fact, he knew she was more than great. She was _everything._

"Is this how this conversation is going to go? Me trying to be pleasant, you responding bluntly and bitterly?" Robert inquired.

Aaron looked at the man in front of him, entirely shocked by his question. Aaron gritted his teeth as he pointed at Robert. "You walked out on us. You haven't tried to contact us in 26 years. You come to my place of work, you tell me you're proud of me, you tell me my wife's great—you talk to me like a father when you don't know the meaning of the word. Why the hell would I be cordial and pleasant with you when you don't even have the balls to offer me an explanation, or better yet—an apology. Not that it would really be worth anything."

Robert looked at his feet and sighed. "There isn't anything I can say to you to make this better. To make up for walking out. You know, I left you and AJ all my shares in my old oil business—" Robert said.

"AJ may be a sucker for oil, but I didn't want any part of that. If that was your way of making up for walking out—"

"It wasn't. I—I met your mother when I was fresh out of high school, I was defiant, I was rebelling against my parents—eventually, I realised I wasn't living the life I wanted to lead."

"Ok, few things wrong with that statement—it took you 10 years to realise this wasn't a life you wanted? And rebelling against your parents—that's more like going out and coming home drunk every night, dating a girl they hate, refusing to go to college—not marrying a girl and starting a family with her." Aaron said, quietening down at the end of the sentence, not understanding how he could have done this. He couldn't even contemplate leaving Emily and Lexie behind—how did that sit right on his conscience? "You're going to have to do a little better than that."

"I—I can't." Robert replied. "I was sad, so I left."

"You made a choice to be a dad. You don't just get to throw in the towel when it's not suiting you anymore. That's not what being a parent is about." Aaron responded.

"I checked in with what you and AJ have been doing. Luckily your faces pop up in the paper every now and again. I guess that's what brought me here. But I—I've learnt from my mistakes, believe me." Robert said. "I have two daughters now."

Aaron felt the knife dig deeper into his chest. He had two daughters. Aaron had two sisters. _Two sisters he never knew about._ Two sisters that his father felt he could parent—but couldn't parent him and AJ.

"They're wonderful girls. Lucy is 16 and Averie is 12. I couldn't do right by you and AJ but—I can say I'm doing right by them."

"It's a pity you had to abandon two sons to realise that." Aaron responded honestly.

For the first time in their conversation, Aaron could see the shame in Robert's eyes. He could see the regret that flooded over his face when he was face to face with what he left behind.

Aaron sighed and ran a hand over his face. It wasn't in his character to hold a grudge. Despite how much he wanted to—especially when he saw the remorse in Robert's face.

"Look—" Aaron began; "I'm happy that you made a life for yourself that you could be proud of. With Jacqueline and your daughters—I'm sure they're amazing." Aaron said sincerely, a little part of him wanting to meet his sisters. "But I'm the man that I am today in spite of you. I worked hard, I treated people with respect and—I never needed you. Did I want you in my life? Of course I did. But I'm an adult now and I learnt to let go. I learnt from your mistakes. I uh—I have a daughter. She's 5 months old and she is perfect. Her and Emily—they are the light in my life and they will never know what it is like to feel unwanted and unloved."

Aaron saw a flicker in Robert's eyes when he mentioned Lexie. Like Aaron had two sisters he didn't know about, Robert had a granddaughter he didn't know about—a granddaughter he probably would never have the chance to be a grandfather to.

"I'm really happy for you Aaron." Robert said sincerely. "That you've found your place in this world and—I am sorry. Truly."

Aaron nodded. A part of him appreciated that he could say he was sorry, but it didn't change the last 26 years.

"I don't really think that's enough." Aaron replied honestly.

Robert nodded. He didn't know what to expect when he spoke to Aaron. He figured it would be hostile, but he hoped that there could be some sort of reconciliation.

"Right." He replied. "I better go, Jacqueline's waiting for me. Goodbye Aaron." He said solemnly, before turning and walking out the door.

* * *

While Aaron was talking to Robert, Emily waited in her office, doing some paper work to keep her occupied. She was about to pack up her things, when there was a knock at the door. She looked up and saw a surprising face—Jacqueline.

"Ms Murphy" Emily greeted, surprised. "What brings you by so late?"

"I uh—I don't really know" Jacqueline replied honestly. "You're Aaron Shore's wife."

"I am" Emily replied simply.

"Aaron's father is my husband." Jacqueline added.

Emily sighed lightly and looked at the woman sympathetically. "I know."

"I know it probably wasn't a good idea for Robert to come but when he knew Aaron would be here—he just wanted to see him. See how he was. He knows he has no right to do so and I don't really know what happened between him and Amada, he never liked to talk about it but—I know he didn't leave with no regrets. He just never comprehended what he was leaving behind."

Emily nodded. She wasn't really interested in hearing Robert's excuses. Especially from his wife.

"Is that all you wanted to tell me?" Emily asked.

"We have two daughters. Lucy and Averie. They know their father has two sons and they would always be open to meeting them. Lucy, she's 16 and uh—she has a little flare for politics. Takes after her brother." Jacqueline said with a light smile. "I know it would probably mean nothing to Aaron or AJ but—they are always welcome in our home. They are always welcome to know us and their sisters. Even if it is 26 years too late." She said sincerely.

"I'm sure Aaron would appreciate you saying that." Emily replied diplomatically. She had no idea whether he would be interested in knowing his sisters—a big part of her said yes, he would. He valued family more than anything.

"Ok, well—it was nice to meet you Emily. I hope to see you again soon." Jacqueline said, before turning round and leaving.

As Emily thought about Jacqueline's offer, Aaron walked in and leant against the door frame. He looked tired and dishevelled and just about done with the day.

"Hi" she greeted quietly.

"Hi" he replied. "I met my dad today" he stated as a way of trying to understand what had just been thrown at him.

"I know" she replied softly.

"He's made a good life for himself." Aaron added. "It's a pity we couldn't be a part of it."

"I know" she replied again. "But you are a part of a family. Our family, my crazy family, your crazy family—your White House family. You're a part of something special Aaron. Don't ever forget that."

Aaron smile softly at his wife. He'd known she was special since the moment he'd met her, and nothing could ever make him think any different.

"Let's go home" he said quietly as Emily stood from her desk and walked towards the door, allowing Aaron to wrap his arm around her waist as they left the White House.


	46. Souvenirs

**Just a short little moment based on 2x19… Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Souvenirs**

* * *

"Hey" Emily greeted as she walked into Aaron's office and sat on the edge of his desk.

"Hey" he replied with a small smile, always happy to see her during the day—especially the tough ones.

They had been called to testify in Kirkman's trial and to say it had been difficult was an understatement. They valued their boss, they trusted him, they believed in him—and now they were being called out in ways that certainly did not help his cause.

"How did it go?" Aaron asked as he shut his laptop and leant back in his chair.

"Hard to say. Kendra's great but so is West" Emily replied with a sigh.

"Yeah, I don't think I helped the cause." Aaron replied honestly.

"I don't think I did either. I'm thankful he didn't find out about Chuck though… then I really would have been in the dog house."

"Nothing Chuck did was illegal—" Aaron reminded her.

"I know but it doesn't change the fact that I asked him to do it illegally in the first place." Emily said. She looked down at Aaron's desk and saw a sugar pourer from the cafeteria and frowned.

She lifted the cylinder and looked at him; "Is this your way of telling me you have type 2 diabetes?"

Aaron chuckled and rolled his eyes lightly; "If everything goes south I figured we'll have minutes to leave this building and I wanted a souvenir that wouldn't amount to grand theft." He explained as Emily smirked lightly.

"Well, Bernie always did say you were over sweetening your cortados" Emily reminded him, knowing it drove Aaron nuts when he couldn't find the sugar shaker because Bernie had hidden it. "I guess this is your sweet revenge. I'm uh—I'm taking the scorpion paperweight the governor of Guam left us."

"Sting of the tail" Aaron replied as Emily chuckled lightly. She set the sugar cylinder down at looked again at Aaron's desk and the photographs on it. He had one of Lexie, one of himself and Emily and the photo of himself, Warner and George in their football gear.

Emily lifted the photo of the three boys and looked closely at it. She'd seen it in passing many times, but she'd never really looked at it.

"Hey, is that—is that me?" she said, pointing to her positioning in the photo. She was laughing about something and in that moment, she wished she knew what.

Aaron smirked lightly; "Why do you think I keep it on my desk?"

"I guess I always associated with your undying love for Warner and George." Emily teasingly responded.

"Well yes, that—" Aaron responded sarcastically; "—but most importantly you. It probably sounds a little creepy but I've that on my desk since I moved to New York. I would never have admitted it was because of you but—I never wanted to forget you or the way that you made me feel… and I think that photo sums it up pretty well." Aaron replied as Emily blushed lightly and looked down at the photo graph.

"Do you ever wonder about us?" Emily asked.

Aaron lent back in his chair and eyed her curiously; "How do you mean?"

"If we'd never started working together in the White House—where would we be?" Emily expanded.

"Honestly? No. I don't really like to dwell on what could have been… especially if it would have been bad." Aaron responded.

"You think we still would have done everything we could have to avoid each other?" Emily asked.

"Oh yeah. I think we would have rocked up at James' birthday parties and Vivienne and Warner's dinners and Lenny's cocktail nights and stayed in the farthest corners of the room from each other, every so often sending death glares, wishing more than anything—that we could put our damn prides aside and make it work." Aaron replied honestly.

Emily nodded in agreement. "We were really stubborn assholes."

Aaron chuckled; "Yeah. We were. But somehow… somehow I think we would have found our way to each other."

"Oh yeah, if it wasn't a kiss in your office it definitely would have been a kiss at one of those ill-fated dinners or cocktail nights." Emily joked.

"And you would have ended up investigating me for something else and it no doubt would have been the making of us." Aaron added as Emily smiled softly and rolled her eyes.

Emily sighed as she set the photo back and looked at Aaron. "Who knew two of the most stressful jobs on the planet would bring us together." She said quietly.

"Yeah, I'm not so sure that if we were in the real world, we would be sitting here married, with the most beautiful baby in the world, exchanging stories about how we're the lowest-rent crooks in the history of the White House." Aaron said with a laugh.

Emily smiled and nodded lightly; "We are _definitely_ the lowest-rent crooks and our baby is _really_ beautiful."

"And we're totally not bias in any way." Aaron added.

"Absolutely not." Emily confirmed.

"But hey" Aaron said as he took her hand. "No matter what happens with Kirkman—we're going to be ok."

"Yeah. We are." Emily said as she gave her husband a quick kiss before standing up. "And you're probably the best souvenir I get to take home from the White House anyway." She said with a wink as she walked towards the door.

Aaron chuckled and smirked at her; "Right back at you Rhodes."


	47. Mad World, Mad Love

**Thank you for all your reviews! Rosebud- I love that Perfect fits so well with them in this story! I'll definitely not be able to listen to the song in the same way now!**

 **This chapter is based on 2x20 and 2x21.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Mad World, Mad Love**

* * *

Emily walked through the upstairs landing of the Shore house putting her earrings in. It was the night of the White House Equinox Reception. While both Emily and Aaron were frustrated that they would have to spend an evening away from Lexie, who at 6 months old hated being apart from them, they knew it was important. There were pressing matters that needed to be discussed and dealt with.

Emily approached the door of her daughter's room and smiled at the scene in front of her. Aaron was already in his tux, sitting on the armchair in the corner of the room with Lexie rested comfortably on his lap. He held Lexie's favourite play book out in front of him as she delicately sucked on her pacifier with her little onesie covered foot resting on the front of the book and her tiny hand covering Aaron's large one. She felt a swell in her heart as Aaron rested his cheek against Lexie's slightly curled brunette locks and she snuggled into her father's side further.

If anyone asked Emily what her favourite part of the day was, she had no doubt that watching these two together before bed would come up.

She quietly made her way over to them as Aaron smiled lightly at her. She knelt down beside them and ran her fingers along the curls at the nape of Lexie's neck as Aaron turned through the last few pages of the book and Lexie drifted off to sleep.

"She loves hearing you read to her." Emily said as Aaron set the book down and stood up to put Lexie in her crib.

"I think she likes the vibrations of my voice, she snuggles more and more into my chest as I read." Aaron said with a lopsided smirk as he set Lexie down in her crib and watched as her hands formed little fists above her head.

"I think we should try the carrot and apple puree again tomorrow." Emily said as she turned the baby monitor and left the room with Aaron.

"But she hates the carrot and apple, she spat it out tonight" Aaron said as they entered their bedroom.

"I know, but she loved it last week" Emily said as she sat on the end of the bed and put her shoes on.

"Babies are fickle, especially when it comes to food" Aaron half joked.

"Ok baby expert, you can come up with a combo tomorrow night" she said as she kissed his cheek and walked out of the room.

"I can guarantee it will be better than carrot and apple…" he mumbled as he followed her out of the room.

"Do you think she'll be ok tonight?" Emily asked as they walked down the stairs. "She's been a little bit weird with new people, I'm just worried if she wakes up and see's George's face, she'll not be happy." Emily said, referring to their babysitter for the evening. George had agreed to look after Lexie for the night if Aaron let him have a glass of the 50-year-old bottle of whiskey he kept stored away for special occasions the next time he was over.

"She loves George" Aaron countered. Lexie was very fond of all of Emily and Aaron's friends, but she really only liked to be soothed by Emily, Aaron, Lenny and Seth.

"Yeah, to play with, not to soothe to sleep." Emily said.

"Maybe if he gives her some carrot and apple puree she'll nod right over." Aaron teased as there was a knock at the door, presumedly George.

"Funny" Emily replied as she rolled her eyes and sought out her purse while Aaron answered the door.

"Wow don't you two look fancy." George teased as Emily smirked.

"Makes a change for our usual evening sweats and spit covered sweaters." Emily replied. "Lexie just went down so she should be ok till we get back. If she wakes up, she likes to have her nose rubbed and for some reason the sound of the washing machine calms her down." Emily explained. "And… you know the rest"

"That I do." George said with certainty. "You guys have fun"

"Fun wouldn't be the word I would use for tonight." Aaron said as he handed Emily her coat.

"Oh come on, you guys got dressed up, surely there is something you could do to make this night like a date night?" George asked.

Emily and Aaron looked at each other, wishing this could just be a fancy date night.

"We'll see" Emily responded. "Night George" she said as she and Aaron walked towards the door.

"Night!"

"Don't touch my whiskey till I get back." Aaron warned him. "If you get a glass you get to enjoy it with me."

"Deal" George said as he flopped down on the sofa, ready for a night of ESPN.

* * *

"What a night" Emily said as she collapsed beside Aaron onto the sofa in Aaron's office. He handed her the bottle of whiskey he was drinking from as she too took a swig.

"Yeah I'm not sure sitting here drinking from the bottle is quite what George meant when he said to make this like a date night." Aaron replied.

After Kirkman and his staff tried to negotiate for the release of Matthew Jennings, Ambassador Dhawan collapsed onto the floor—dead. No one knew what had happened, but they did know that it looked bad for the US government.

"Yeah, not quite." Emily replied. "It is awful what happened tonight but—we need to find a way to bring Matthew Jennings home. He drew a smiley face on the side of the building and now in all likelihood, he's going to end up becoming leverage. He's a kid. How can the world be so messed up as the allow him to be right in the middle of this?"

"I don't know." Aaron replied honestly. He had no idea what their next move should be. He had no idea how Bultan were going to respond. "All I do know is that if it were Lexie being held over there—I would be anything and everything to get her home. No matter the cost."

"Do you ever think about that?" Emily asked quietly.

"About what?"

"We are high ranking US government officials. Plenty of people would happily see us dead… they would happily see us in pain. What if they thought they could use Lexie as leverage to get to us? How safe can she really be while we have these jobs?" she asked.

"I uh… I never really thought about it. I guess I've always had it in my head that she would always be safe because we would always fiercely protect her—from everything." Aaron replied honestly. "I know we can't protect her from the little things, like—like if she falls over and hurts herself or someone says something mean to her but—being used as leverage by enemies of the government? No way. She is more protected from that kind of stuff than either of us realise."

Emily nodded as she sunk further into the sofa, resting her head against Aaron's arm.

"I suppose Leo and Penny are the ones in more danger than Lexie could ever be." Emily responded quietly, remembering the secret service detail Leo and Penny had to contend with.

"Yeah. Lexie's safe. She always will be."

"I know. Let's go home. This mess will be waiting for us in the morning." Emily said as she and Aaron stood from the sofa.

"I wish that wasn't true." Aaron said with a sigh as he rested his hand on the crevice between Emily's shoulder and neck and kissed her temple lightly.

* * *

Emily was right when she called this situation a mess. The following day after a video call with the prime minister of Bultan, the "White house was more disheartened and concerned over getting Matthew Jennings back. Bultan wanted oil, something which the US was not prepared to give way too.

Yet something about the blackmail, and Aaron's response to the blackmail, struck a nerve with Emily. As she left the meeting with Aaron and Kirkman, she couldn't look at him, and he knew he had annoyed her.

He quickly followed her into her office and shut the door.

"Ok, I'll bite, what did I do?" Aaron said, not understanding how anything he said in there was counter productive to what Emily was also trying to achieve.

"You just—you called him 'one kid.' You made it clear to Kirkman that giving up drilling rights to Bultan wasn't worth one kid. You made him sound so insignificant." Emily said as she sat at her desk.

Aaron furrowed his eyebrows; "You also said that giving into the blackmail set a bad precedent—"

"Yeah, but not because of Matthew!" Emily said, raising her voice slightly. "I don't want Kirkman to give into the blackmail anymore than you do, but I want him to do whatever he can to get Matthew back on US soil!"

"You think I don't want to see Matthew back here?" Aaron asked.

"I don't think you care!" Emily exclaimed.

Aaron clenched his jaw, not wanting the next thing to come out of his mouth be something he regretted. "You think I don't care? He's a kid Emily of course I care."

"No, you're more concerned about this government—"

"It's my job to be more concerned about this government, anyone who works here and doesn't have the government's best interests first, is worthy of the minor leagues." Aaron snapped.

Emily narrowed her eyes. "Are you kidding me right now? You are choosing this moment to bring up this minor leaguer crap again? You think because I'm concerned about a child, I'm worthy of the minor leagues? I'm pretty sure that just makes me human Aaron, and last time I checked, I'm the one sitting in the chief of staff's chair!" She shouted.

"Emily—"

"What if it were Lexie?" Emily asked, silencing him once more.

"Don't—don't bring Lexie in to this, this has nothing to do with her." Aaron said quietly.

"You said last night that you would do anything and everything to bring Lexie home if she was in a situation like this." Emily reminded him as she stood from her chair and walked towards him. "Lexie may be _our_ daughter, but Matthew is also someone's son. Someone's grandson, someone's niece, someone's friend. He drew a smiley face on a wall and now he's looking at 20 years in jail—if he survives that long. He doesn't deserve that, and we should be doing whatever we can to bring him back. The people of this country should come first—not drilling rights. Maybe it's just the oil business genes in you."

Aaron clenched his jaw yet again, tighter than before. "It's one thing to bring Lexie into this, but to bring my dad into it too? I understand that you've been worried about Lexie recently and the world that we live in and that you're worried about Matthew but—don't take cheap shots at me. Don't act like you know nothing about me, like I'm some uncaring, heartless business man—like I'm my father. You know that couldn't be further from the truth."

"Aaron—"

"You know— we love each other a crazy amount Emily. More than I thought a human was capable of. But we know the exact things to say to hurt each other a crazy amount too." Aaron said before opening the door and barging out of the room, leaving an angry and hurt Emily in his wake.

* * *

In the past, when Emily and Aaron fought, things tended to be frosty for a couple of days, until they managed to put their prides aside and sort things out. This fight was proving to be no different.

They were still on the outs with each other. Aaron had stayed over night in his office for the past few evenings, only coming home to put Lexie to bed. He claimed he had a lot of work to do, but Emily knew better. While at work, things were kept strictly professional, and everyone around them could feel the tension between them. It was getting unbearable.

"How you doing?" Emily asked Kendra as she walked into her office that late afternoon. Kendra's house had been broken into and while it seemed they had caught the perpetrator; her home was the last place Kendra wanted to be right now.

"Good" Kendra lied as Emily sat on the edge of her desk.

"And by good, you mean bad." Emily concluded.

"Honestly… the last place I want to go tonight is my own home." Kendra replied.

"So, crash on our couch." Emily offered.

Kendra raised her eyebrow; "I won't get in the way of a massive Emily and Aaron blow out?"

"You heard about that?" Emily said with a sigh.

"Everyone heard about that and even if I hadn't, you could cut the tension between you two with a knife." Kendra replied honestly. "When you guys fight you really do go hard…"

"Tell me about it…" Emily mumbled. "When we were teenagers, we bickered over stupid things and then those stupid things became something incredibly personal and eventually—eventually we just gathered so much ammunition against each other that we know the exact thing to say to real dig the knife in." Emily confessed looking at her feet. "We never mean to hurt each other, yet somehow—we always do."

"You know, my grandma always used to say that it wasn't love if it didn't feel like it was going to destroy you." Kendra told her.

Emily raised her eyebrows; "I can definitely vouch for that one… Aaron's been staying here for the past few nights, but I'll let him know you're coming over, he'll be happy to help a friend."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. I mean, I can't guarantee that Lexie's crying won't wake you up in the middle of the night, but I can guarantee that you will wake up with a back ache so bad, you won't be able to think of anything else." Emily joked as Kendra snickered.

"Yeah, that—that would be great. Thank you." Kendra said.

"No problem."

"I'll just go home after work and get a few things." Kendra said.

"No, I will go, the idea is to keep you away from home, right? I'll go right after work." Emily offered.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." Emily said as she held out her hand and Kendra handed over her keys.

* * *

Shortly after Kendra accepted Emily's offer, she texted Aaron to let him know. She asked him to relieve Lexie of the nanny and set up and make shift bed on the sofa for Kendra while she went to her house to collect her things. Aaron sighed as soon as he read it. Of course, he would happily help out his friend, but he was disheartened that this was the first thing Emily would say to him in two days that didn't entirely involve work or Lexie. He wondered how long they could let this fight linger. They were both far too stubborn for their own good.

As he made up the sofa for Kendra that evening, he watched Lexie as she slept soundly in her rocker chair. He was afraid to move her from it and into her crib because she looked so peaceful. She wasn't the heaviest of sleepers and the slightest noise or movement tended to wake her up.

He checked his watch wondering what was taking Emily so long to get Kendra's things. She didn't live particularly far from the Shore house. He figured she was probably admiring Kendra's house—and no doubt her wardrobe.

His phone soon started ringing as he cursed himself for not turning his ringer off so not to disturb Lexie. He quickly took his phone out of his pocket and answered it, breathing a sigh of relief when Lexie didn't wake up.

"Aaron Shore." Aaron answered.

"Aaron it's Mike—" He heard down the line. "Something's happened to Emily. You need to get to the hospital."

* * *

 **Cause we all love a cliffhanger on TV and in stories... don't forget to review!**


	48. Every Little Thing

**I'm so sorry this has taken me so long to post… I wasn't feeling all that inspired after the show's cancellation. But… I've seen a few rumours that it may be coming back, so I wanted to at least finish this part of the story off for you all!**

 **Based on 2x22.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Every Little Thing**

* * *

Aaron's heart pounded in his chest as he moved through the hospital. By some miracle, Lexie had stayed asleep in the car journey over, and was now fast asleep in his arms. He tried to steady his breathing, but he was terrified—he hadn't let Mike explain what happened to Emily before he hung up the phone and rushed out the door. Now, he was walking aimlessly through the ER, hoping to find his wife in one piece.

He soon spotted secret service agents standing outside of the room and Lenny frantically pacing in front of it. Everything seemed to still around him as he willed himself to go forward. His steps felt slow and laboured as Lenny eventually spotted him and quickly closed the distance between the two.

"Aaron, thank god." She said quickly.

"Where is she?" He asked quickly.

"She's just in that room— _she's fine Aaron_." Lenny assured him.

Aaron quickly handed a still sleeping Lexie to Lenny before rushing into the room.

"Aaron—" Emily began, standing up, seeing that he was completely panicked and wanting to calm him down.

Aaron took a few short steps towards her and cupped her face in his hands as he inspected her, moving her hair out of her face. "Are you ok? What happened?"

"I'm fine Aaron, I promise, the bullet just grazed my arm, 13 stitches—"

"That's 13 stitches too many—" he said as he looked down at the sling over her arm, still in a dazed panic.

"Aaron." Emily said firmly as she put her free hand behind his neck and made him focus on her. "I'm ok."

Aaron felt his heart rate slow as he let out a breath and rested his forehead against hers. "I'm so sorry about this stupid fight we've been having—"

"You don't have to apologise—"

"No, I do, because— _it's not worth it_. Not one fight, not one moment of pure joy—none of it is worth it without you right by my side." He quietly confessed.

Emily nodded as she felt her eyes well with tears. Words could not describe how much she loved this man in front of her. "I love you." She said in a whisper. "Very much."

"I love you too." He said as she rested her head against his chest and he hugged her close.

A few moments later, they saw there was a bit of commotion outside the room, and soon enough, Kirkman and Mike came into the room.

"Emily, Aaron" Tom greeted as they moved apart from one another, but Aaron kept his had rested on the back of her shoulder. He was firmly in protection mode. "Thank God you're ok."

"I'm fine Mr. President, you didn't have to come." Emily insisted.

"My chief of staff gets shot, the only place I'm going is the hospital." Tom insisted back.

"What happened to the shooter?" Aaron asked.

"Fred Archer. We took him out." Mike informed them.

"If something had have happened to you—" Tom began.

"But it didn't." Emily reminded all the men in the room who were looking at her like she might break any second. She'd had broken bones worse than this accident, giving birth to Lexie had been worse than this accident. "Did West bring charges against Moss?" she asked, wanting to get on to more important matters.

"No, and that doesn't matter right now." Tom assured her.

"You need to focus on yourself Emily, you need to take it easy, no White House talk." Aaron insisted. "When can you go home?"

"I was just waiting for you to take me there." She told him as she smiled softly up at him. "Where's Lexie?"

"She's outside with Lenny. Amazingly she slept through the whole thing." Aaron said with a chuckle. Their daughter could probably sleep through a super storm if given the opportunity.

"Well, then we better get her home before she does wake up and all hell breaks loose." Emily said as she moved to grab her things.

* * *

The following morning, President Kirkman insisted that Emily take a few days off, and Aaron was more than happy to agree with him. Emily, however, knew that it simply wasn't going to happen. She would have been fine if she could have looked after Lexie for the day, but her arm was still sore (though she wouldn't admit it) and she couldn't lift her or play with her. In all honesty, the best place for her was probably the office.

She arrived in the afternoon and bumped straight into Aaron who looked entirely unimpressed to see her.

"Emily—"

Emily held her hand up to stop him. "Before you give me the third degree about being here, I'm going to kindly ask you not too. I got some stitches in my arm and last time I checked, a fully functioning arm was not a requirement of this job, so, I'm going to do my job." She said as Aaron considered protested, but save Emily raise her eyebrow and chose to keep his mouth shut.

Emily sighed; "The president's political future hangs in the balance, thousands of people may die because Congress would rather play politics than send aid and—and Seth and Lyor are missing." She said, finding the last part difficult to admit. "I don't think today is the day to get frustrated over the fact that I can't look after my daughter, nor is it the day to binge watch TV. So, I'm going to be productive and do my job—no buts."

"Whatever you say boss." He replied with a smirk as Emily returned it and rolled her eyes.

"Have you heard anything from Seth and Lyor?" she asked as the began to walk on.

"No, not yet. The President has the entire police force on the lookout for them though." Aaron assured her.

"I'm really not sure this day could get any worse." Emily mumbled, afraid for her friends.

"Hey" Aaron said as he stopped her and rested his hands on the side of her shoulders. "They're going to be ok. We're all going to be ok."

Emily sighed; "Tell me that at the end of the day."

* * *

 _"All day, everyone has been telling me to go home… and I can't. I can't take a day off, because this has become my home. I haven't been a good chief of staff to you sir. I've lost my way."_

Emily's words to the president rang in her head as she arrived home that evening. She had handed her resignation over to Kirkman and she wasn't quite sure how she felt about it all. She was sad to be gone, but in her heart, she felt that she would never really be done with the White House. Kirkman had told her she would always have a seat at his table.

She managed to nestle Lexie in her good arm as she sat on the sofa with her. As she looked down at her daughter she knew that maybe being at home wouldn't be so bad after all. Her phone started to ring and she leaned across to the coffee table to lift it, wincing slightly at over extending her arm.

"Hello?" she said down the phone.

"Hi" she heard Aaron say quietly down the line.

She had told him that she wanted to resign a few moments before she did it and Aaron knew better than to fight her on this one. When Emily's mind was made up, there was no reversing it.

They remained in a comfortable silence for a few moments, before Aaron spoke again. "The President's about to come on TV."

"Yeah, I have the channel waiting." She replied as Aaron nodded silently.

"What do you think he's going to say?" she asked.

"I really don't know."

Emily took her turn to nod silently.

Aaron didn't know what to say. She'd just given up her dream job. Was there anything he could say to make it better?

"Em… are you ok?" he simply asked.

"I'm ok." She told him. "I can't say that this is how I wanted this to work out but here we are." She looked down at Lexie as her tiny lips parted slightly and she fell asleep. This little girl and Aaron Shore were her whole world, and as long as she had them, what more did she need?

"And I don't think it's really going to be all that bad." She said quietly, with a smile on her face as she ran her finger down Lexie's little nose.

Aaron smiled softly down the phone knowing that she was talking about being at home with Lexie.

"No. I don't think it will be so bad at all." He agreed. If Emily could be doing anything other than working in the White House, she would be right at home with her little girl.

"I'll uh—I'll let you go for this press conference. I'll see you when you get home." Emily told him.

"Ok, I won't be late."

"Ok" Emily replied, knowing that he probably hadn't a mission of getting home before 3am.

"Oh, and Em?"

"Yeah?"

" _We're all going to be ok."_ He remined her from this afternoon, as Emily closed her eyes and chuckled lightly down the phone.

"I love you Aaron Shore."

"I love you too Emily Rhodes."

* * *

 **So I chose not to address the whole 'Emily could be a traitor' thing in this chapter because I wanted it to have a relatively satisfying ending for now— BUT—if there is going to be a third season, I can assure you it will be addressed…**


	49. Lucy Shore

**Just a little something to tide us over until season 3 appears on Netflix…**

 **I wrote this really quickly, so it could be a mess and it could be a bit dull, but it's something! I figured it was time Aaron met one of his sisters…**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Lucy Shore**

* * *

After watching some news coverage of Kirkman's announcement of his intention of re-running for president, Emily looked at her watch and saw that it was approaching midnight. She stood up, careful not to disturb a sleeping Lexie in her arms and moved towards the stairs to go to bed.

As she began to climb the stairs, she heard a knock at the door and frowned. Who would be calling by at this hour of the night? She turned back around and opened the door to find a young girl with blonde curly hair, maybe 16 years old, standing there, her cheeks flushed from the chilled air.

"Hi" Emily greeted, unsure what else to say to this stranger.

"Hi—oh, cute baby" the girl said as she looked at a still sleeping Lexie.

"Oh, thanks…" Emily said with an awkward laugh. "Are you ok? Can I help you with something?" she asked, not sure where this one was going.

"I'm so sorry to barge by like this, and so late at night, it's super lame and inconsiderate but I just got on a plane and came to Washington not really knowing what I was doing but I knew I had to come here and—I'm rambling." She girl said, stopping herself before pulling an awkward face.

Emily chuckled lightly; "A little." There was something so familiar about this girl. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was, but she had a feeling she wasn't just some random girl on her door stop looking for directions. "How about we start with your name?" Emily suggested as the girl nodded as if that should have been her starting point—it was definitely the most obvious.

"I'm Lucy. Lucy Shore. I'm looking for Aaron Shore, he's—he's my brother."

* * *

After quickly ushering Lucy inside, Emily told her to make herself comfortable while she put Lexie in her room. She also used this excuse to process the girl who was sitting in her living room. Lucy Shore, Aaron's little sister that he only learnt a short while ago existed was here, in the middle of the night, all the way from Texas.

Emily soon made her way back downstairs and made Lucy a cup of tea before sitting with her on the sofa. She was clearly anxious, and Emily was determined to make her feel at ease. She introduced herself as Aaron's wife Emily and that the baby was their daughter Lexie and she smiled and found out that Lucy was a sophomore in high school and had big political aspirations—much like Aaron.

"So, how did you find where we lived?" Emily asked as she tucked one of her legs underneath her.

"I kind of met AJ yesterday and he gave me your address." Lucy explained.

Emily raised her eyebrows; "You met AJ? And you still wanted to meet Aaron?"

Lucy chuckled; "Yeah, I understand that reaction, I'm surprised he didn't put me off too but I figured Aaron couldn't be much worse."

Emily smirked; "Yeah, AJ can be a little difficult to stomach."

"He wasn't that bad… again, I am so sorry for barging in like this—" Lucy said, feeling like she would forever be apologising for this.

"Please, you do no have to apologise." Emily insisted as she set her mug down.

"I realised as I rang your doorbell that I may not really be welcome here considering the state of my dad's relationship with Aaron…" Lucy said sheepishly.

Emily rested her hand on Emily's forearm; "Lucy, you will always be welcome here, no matter what."

Lucy nodded and gave Emily a soft smile; "You're really nice."

Emily raised an eyebrow; "You're surprised?"

"No, it's just—the press really goes after you sometimes. Say you're too young and inexperienced. Along with some other rather sexist remarks I'd rather not repeat…"

Emily scoffed; "Yeah, I try not to read those. I am all for free speech, but sometimes I wonder if there really aren't anymore interesting topics than my marriage or what I wore to work that day."

"Guess we still have a long way to go on the gender discrimination front. They should learn to respect you as chief of staff."

Emily shifted uncomfortably in her seat. This was the first time she was going to have to say out loud that she was no longer chief of staff. She hadn't even told her parents and she got Aaron to tell their friends. She figured now was a good a time as any to say it.

"Well—I actually resigned tonight."

Lucy looked her wide eyed; "What? Why?"

"It's a long story but basically I just lost my way a little bit and no job is worth that. I'm sure it will hit the press tomorrow and get lost amongst the president's election announcement."

"Wow… well, for what it's worth, I think you were a great chief of staff."

Emily smiled softly; "Thank you."

Before Emily could quiz Lucy any further on her sudden appearance in Washington, the front door opened and closed and a few moments later, Aaron walked into the living room. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Emily sitting with an unfamiliar teenager.

"… hi" he said cautiously.

"Hey" Emily replied as she and Lucy stood up.

"I wasn't expecting company at… 12.30am" he said with a little laugh as he looked at his watch.

"Aaron, this is Lucy. Lucy Shore. Your sister" Emily introduced as Aaron felt his breath catch in his throat.

They both stood there awkwardly for a moment before Lucy walked forward and held out her hand to shake Aaron's, which he did.

"Hey. Hi. Hello… I'm sorry, I get really awkward when I'm nervous, I choose to look at it as a hallmark of my personality, but I realise it can be a little overwhelming for people. Just to get that out of the way." She said as Aaron chuckled lightly.

She could definitely pass for his sister. They both had curly hair, those Lucy's was blonde, and their eyes were almost identical.

"It is very nice to meet you Lucy" Aaron said with a sincere smile as he could see Lucy's shoulders relax.

She smiled sincerely back at him; "it's very nice to meet you too Aaron."

Emily decided that the newly introduced siblings could use some time alone to talk, so she quietly made her exit to go and check on Lexie.

Aaron and Lucy shifted awkwardly where they stood for a moment, before Aaron broke the silence.

"Can we jump back to the 12.30am thing?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I realise this is super weird and random and a lot, I just—I had to meet you."

"… at 12.30am? Not that I'm not glad you're here—" he said quickly.

"Yeah, I've only known you existed for about a year and I've always wanted to meet you and be your sister but I just—I'm only 16, jumping on a plane from Texas isn't all that straight forward… especially in the middle of a school term."

"How did you escape?"

"I got in a fight with my dad and I just bolted. He was angry too so I don't think he questioned it… I've gotten countless phone calls from my mom though, I should really call her back instead of sending her blunt texts…" she said as her mind went elsewhere for a moment. "Anyway… I overheard him saying he had walked out on you and AJ and I just—I felt like I didn't even know my own dad. It was as if he was a stranger. He had always been so kind and loving to me and Averie and I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that he wasn't always a doting dad. That he had abandoned two sons. I thought that maybe if I met you, you might be the problem and I could get on with my life. So… I met AJ yesterday—"

Aaron scrunched up his nose; "I'm very sorry to hear that" he half joked.

Lucy chuckled; "Yeah, it's easy to see how he could have been a problem… but he was surprisingly kind to me." She admitted as Aaron smiled softly. He never expected to hear that about his brother. "Though, he did almost put me off coming to meet you but then I googled you and almost every result was a photograph of you and Emily—who is amazing by the way, nice job" she said with an approving smirk and a nudge.

Aaron laughed; "Thank you"

"In every single photo of you two, you were smiling so brightly. Both of you and I Just—I couldn't believe that two people who has so much light in their eyes when they were around each other could be so bad… and your baby is _beyond_ gorgeous, it's not even fair." She added at the end as Aaron laughed again.

"Thank you, again…"

"Anyway… I probably should have also warned you that I'm a rambler, but here we are… I'm here and I'm glad I'm here and I'm glad I'm meeting you because—you seem like a really great guy and I would very much like to get to know you." She said softly.

Aaron smiled; "You are quite the girl, huh?" she had flown all the way out here from Texas, by herself in the middle of the night all to meet a brother she had only recently heard about. She didn't know how she would be received, yet she pursued it anyway.

Lucy chuckled awkwardly; "Yeah, I can be a lot—"

"No, you're determined and strong willed… classic Shore traits" he said giving her a little nudge.

"Yeah." She said with a light laugh. "I'm really sorry for how my dad treated you."

Aaron shook his head; "That's not for you to apologise for and just because he was a bad dad to me, doesn't mean that he was to you." Aaron could tell that Lucy was so disappointed her father could do such a thing, so much so that she didn't want to believe it. She clearly loved him and there was nothing wrong with that. "You're allowed to love him and appreciate him. I met him a few months ago and when he spoke about you, he had such light in his eyes. He really loves you Lucy. He may not have been ready to be a father to me or AJ, but he seems like a great one to you."

"… you're really nice." She said absentmindedly.

Aaron raised an eyebrow; "you're surprised?"

"I—I don't know what I am." She confessed with a sigh. "It's almost 1am, I haven't slept in 36 hours—"

"Well then you should most definitely sleep. The guest room is all made up, though it's a little cold tonight, I'll get you some extra blankets" he said as they walked out of the room and upstairs.

"Thank you" she said as he opened the guest room door for her and he switched the light on.

"We can talk more in the morning… and I did hear that you were a bit of a political buff, so I would love to take you to the White House." Aaron offered.

Lucy's eyes widened; "Are you serious? Oh my god this is the best day of my life! I have an awesome brother and he's taking me to the White House… this feels like a dream."

"Tell me about it." Aaron replied with a laugh.

"Thank you. Truly."

"It's ok… and as the awesome but also responsible big brother… you should really go back to school soon. But you are welcome to stay here as long as you want and when you do go back, come visit whenever you want."

"You are the best big brother I ever had." Lucy joked as Aaron smirked.

"I'm just trying to me completely override the AJ experience, I'm not usually this nice." He joked back.

"Noted."

* * *

After making sure Lucy was settled and checking in on a sleeping Lexie, Aaron made his way into his and Emily's bedroom. He was surprised to see that Emily was still awake as she flicked her way through a book.

"I didn't think you'd still be awake" he commented as he quickly undressed, pulled his pyjama bottoms on and sat on the bed beside her.

"You seriously think I could sleep knowing you were downstairs with your newly discovered _sister_?" she asked as she put her book down and sat up straighter.

"Yeah, I should have known better" he said with a laugh. They sat in quietness for a moment as Emily realised it was probably best for Aaron to approach the topic himself without her forcing him to talk about it. "I have a little sister Emily. _Two_ actually. And one of them showed up tonight… and she is really, really great."

Emily smiled at him, beyond happy that he was saying this. "Well, you've had your share of crappy siblings, I think it's about time you got a good one."

"She looks so like my dad but the way she talks—she couldn't be any more different from how I remembered him and how he appeared to me at the Correspondent's Dinner." He confessed. "She's funny and she's determined and intelligent and bold." He complimented. "I have a little sister."

"Yeah, you do." Emily said with a little laugh. "It's so good to see you with a smile on your face when you talk about your family."

"Makes a change… I'm going to take her to the White House tomorrow."

"Yeah, I heard she has some political aspirations. I'm sure the President will love her rambling and awkwardness." Emily said with a laugh. She'd only been with the girl for 15 minutes and she was already so fond of her. "Lexie is going to love having another aunt to dote over her."

"Oh definitely." Aaron said with a laugh, but his smile quickly faded.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked, seeing his mood quickly shift.

"Jacqueline and Robert are going to work out that she's here pretty soon and they're going to come and get her. Meaning that I have to see him again." Aaron said quietly.

"Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'm not saying you have to spark this father son relationship, but I imagine Lucy would appreciate it if you were tolerable of each other." Emily suggested.

"Considering how our last meeting went, I'm not entirely sure that's possible." Aaron grumbled.

"Well you have to at least try. No matter how much crap may try and give you, you always have to keep trying." Emily encouraged. There was no way she was going to let Aaron come out of this as the bad guy. "Now come on. It's been a long day, let's sleep."

"Yeah, we've barely spoken about your job—"

"Let's not think about that right now. You just met your sister Aaron. Be happy."

* * *

The following morning, Aaron kept his word and brought an excited Lucy round to the West Wing. He had initially given her a quick tour of the whole building, before he brought her down to the heart of the government. Lucy looked all around her in amazement as people rushed past her, phones buzz and people typed frantically at computers.

"Oh my gosh this is amazing…" Lucy said with a little squeal as Aaron chuckled. "I am actually in the West Wing—oh my gosh is that Kimble Hookstraten?"

Aaron looked up and saw Kimble the other end of the corridor talking with some of his colleagues.

"Yeah, she must be here for a meeting about the education department." Aaron said as Lucy watched her with wonder. While she would consider herself a Democrat, she couldn't help but admire Hookstraten for her brawn. "Come on" Aaron said as he held open a door for her and she walked in.

"What's in—here. Oh… my… _god_. I'm in the Oval Office. The freakin _Oval Office."_ Lucy exclaimed as she looked at the desk in amazement.

"That pretty much sums up my first thoughts when I got here." She heard a voice behind her say as she turned around and saw Kirkman sitting on the sofas with Leo.

"Oh. Mr President. Sir, I am so sorry, that was so rude of me, I didn't see you there—" she fumbled as Tom stood up with a smile on his face.

"There's nothing to apologise for." He insisted as Aaron stepped in.

"Sir, this is my sister Lucy Shore." Aaron introduced as the shook hands.

"I didn't realise you had a sister Aaron" Tom said as he looked at them curiously.

"Neither did I until recently. I have two actually" he explained. "It's a long story that we can save for another time. This is Leo Kirkman, Leo, Lucy Shore."

"It's—it's nice to meet you" Leo said awkwardly as he quickly stood up and shook Lucy's hand. It didn't take long for Aaron to realise that Leo was smitten with his little sister.

"Hi" Lucy simply replied with a smile also gracing her face.

"How long are you in town for Lucy?" Tom asked as they all sat on the sofas.

"Oh not long…" she said awkwardly, figuring now wasn't the time to get into the details of her running away from home.

Before anything else could be said, the door opened, and Aaron's assistant Daniel appeared at the door.

"Aaron, there's a Robert Shore at the gate, says he needs to see your urgently." Daniel said as Aaron and Lucy looked at each other with a gulp.

"Uh—yeah, yeah, let him through. I'll be right there." Aaron said as Daniel nodded and left.

"Is everything alright?" Tom asked with a frown. He had heard that Aaron's long-lost dad had appeared in the White House recently, but he certainly didn't know all the details. By the looks on Aaron and Lucy's faces, however, he figured the details weren't too good.

"It's fine, sir, nothing that won't be dealt with quickly." Aaron said. "I should uh—I should maybe talk to him before you do" Aaron said to Lucy.

"You really think you can diffuse this situation?" Lucy asked.

Aaron shrugged; "it's worth a try."

"I—I can take you round to the canteen, we could get some food." Leo suggested, looking for any opportunity to speak with Lucy.

"That would be great" Lucy said with a soft smile. "I'll see you soon…" she said as she and Leo quickly left the office.

"Do I need to have security on standby Aaron?" Tom asked as they stood from the sofas.

"No, sir, that won't be necessary." Aaron replied.

"Are you alright?" Tom asked. "I mean you showed up today with a long-lost sister and now your father is back?"

"It's a little strange sir. One minute I have nothing to do with the man, now all of sudden I have two sisters and one of them is here and—I'm going to have to maintain some sort of contact with him. For Lucy. It's all just— _a little strange_."

Tom gave him a sympathetic smile; "I understand. I understand that that could be hard for you. In my experience, there's a certain type of pain that only a father can leave behind… but you've seemed to conquer it pretty well. I don't think you'll have a problem with this next obstacle either."

Aaron nodded; "Thank you sir." He said sincerely, before leaving the office to deal with his father.

* * *

As he approached his office, Daniel informed him that Robert was already in there waiting—and he wasn't happy. Aaron nodded before taking a breath and walking into the room.

"Robert—"

"Where is my daughter?" he asked immediately, clearly not caring for pleasantries.

Aaron sighed before walking behind his desk; "She's in the canteen with Leo Kirkman."

"I'm getting her right now and we are leaving." He said as he walked to the door. He stopped just shy of the doorway, however and turned back to look at Aaron who as leaning against his desk. "You should have called me as soon as she walked through your front door."

"I don't have your number." Aaron reminded him.

"Then you find a way! I have been worried sick about her and all this time, she's been here, with _you_."

"You say you with such venom in your voice. Am I really that bad?"

"I don't know Aaron. I don't know you. You wouldn't _let_ me know you. So for all I know, you could have been _poisoning_ her against me."

Aaron scoffed; "Are you kidding me right now? I wouldn't let you know me? You walked away! You clearly didn't want to know me! You came back into my life when it suited you, when I'd made it into the big leagues." He said, seeing right through Robert's intentions. He wanted that connection to the White House not to his son. "Whatever Lucy thinks of you is from her own mind and her own experiences."

"She loves me, I am her father."

"Yeah. You're right, she does." Aaron said, as Robert stood in silence, not expecting Aaron to have agreed with him. "She loves you because you have loved and cherished her all her life. That's not going to change because of me and I wouldn't want that to change. Every child deserves to be loved by their father." Robert remained silent, realising that perhaps his anger was unfounded—all because he didn't know his son.

"Look" Aaron began, "You may be angry and me or angry at Lucy right now, but she just wanted to meet her brothers and she didn't see any other way. And the reality is—we've met now. We can't go back, and we don't want to go back. We're going to be in each other's lives so you and me? We're going to have to learn how so get along. Because I don't want to disappoint my sister. I'm not saying we're going to be the best of friends. But we're going to try and have a bit of respect for one another."

"I—ok." Robert said. He wasn't expecting Aaron to behave in this way at all. He couldn't think of what else to say at his level-headed response.

Aaron nodded before sitting down at his desk. "You should go get Lucy, she should head back to Dallas for school."

"Yeah. She should." Robert said as he awkwardly stood there for a moment. "Thank you, Aaron. For being a good brother to her."

"She will always be welcome here." Aaron said as Robert nodded before quickly leaving.

* * *

Aaron didn't get the chance to say goodbye to Lucy before Robert took her away. He had quietly gone about with his day and managed to make it home at a reasonable hour. As he walked through the front door, he was immediately hit with the aroma of one of Emily's secret Italian recipes she inherited from her great-grandmother.

"Hey" Emily greeted as he appeared in the kitchen.

"Hi" he said as he sat at the island, rested his head in his hand and watched Emily as she stirred the dinner. "My dad came to the White House today. Took Lucy back to Dallas."

"Are you ok?" she asked quietly, knowing it couldn't have been easy to see him again.

"I think so… I just—I didn't think it was possible to miss someone's energy so much. Especially when you've only known them for a day."

"She's your sister. Of course you're going to miss her." Emily said as she walked round the counter and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "You did a really good thing today Aaron. I know it might not feel like it. But Lucy is going to thank you." She said before kissing his cheek. "Oh this was dropped through the letter box for you." She added as she slid an envelope with his name on it across the table before going back to the dinner.

Aaron opened the envelope and began reading the letter's contents.

 _Dear Aaron,_

 _I'm sorry I left so abruptly. Dad looked really rattled after speaking with you. He wanted to get out of their quickly. I was able to convince him, however, to let me leave this letter to your house, seeing as I don't have your number (which has been rectified at the bottom of the page.)_

 _Words cannot really express how thankful I am to have met you Aaron. You're kinder than I could have imagined and the big brother I never knew I needed. AJ doesn't know what he's missing, and I can't wait for you meet Averie one day. You'll love her. She reminds me of you in many ways._

 _It's wonderful to know that I have a place to go to in Washington when things get hard in Dallas. That I have a big brother to turn to when I need advice or help. It is also wonderful to know that you're married to Emily Rhodes who is quite frankly my IDOL. I didn't want to be weird about it when I met her, but she's amazing and it is a dream to have her as a sister in law._

 _I'll look forward to seeing you again soon Aaron, and I DEMAND I get some cuddles with my beautiful niece. I promise to spoil her rotten!_

 _Again, thank you for accepting me and letting me be your sister. I have a feeling we have some crazy adventures ahead…_

 _All my love,_

 _Lucy_

 _PS- Here's my number, feel free to pass it onto Leo Kirkman if you get the chance…_

Aaron smiled at the letter and let out a little laugh at the PS.

Emily looked up from the stove, "Everything ok?" she asked.

"Yeah. Everything's good." He replied happily.

* * *

 **Don't forget to review!**


	50. Broken System, Broken Heart

**Hi everyone! I'm so chuffed that Designated Survivor is back! I really enjoyed the season and I'm excited to add more to this story. As you all know, I follow the storyline of the show, but with the twist of Aaron and Emily being together, so the next few chapters will deal with Emily's struggle with her sick mother, Aaron's candidacy for VP and Isabel Pardo—Aaron's ex-girlfriend in this case.**

 **So, I hope you enjoy how I twist this story! For now, here's the first installment... enjoy!**

* * *

 **Broken System, Broken World**

* * *

A little over a week had passed since Emily had resigned and to say she was feeling miserable would have been an understatement. For the first time in her life, she felt like she had no direction. While she was loving the extra time she was getting to spend with Lexie, she didn't think it was unfair to want more than just being a mom. She had devoted so much of her life to making it in Washington and to just have it all gone in the blink of an eye _hurt_.

For some reason she felt worse today. She woke up with the worst feeling in the pit of her stomach and she couldn't put her finger on why. She just had a feeling today was going to be a terrible day. While Aaron took a shower, Emily got Lexie up for some breakfast. A few weeks ago, she had started eating solid foods and she loved being able to sit up in her new high chair and look all around her. She was a curious and bubbly baby and her little laugh was contagious. Yet, this morning, even Lexie's smile and baby talk couldn't cheer Emily up. She tried to muster as big a smile as she could for her little girl, but it was difficult.

Emily simply sat opposite Lexie with a cup of coffee and watched her as she banged on her tray, talked baby talk and smothered herself with banana and yoghurt. Normally, she would talk back to her, but she just had nothing to say, even to a baby. Soon enough, Aaron came downstairs fixing his tie and Lexie gave him a wide grin and a squeal.

"Ah, good morning mi amor." he said as he kissed his daughter's curly brunette locks. "You are loving that banana and yoghurt huh?" he said with a laugh, seeing as she was _covered_ in the stuff.

Lexie babbled something unintelligible back at him as Aaron smiled widely and nodded his head along.

"Hey Em-" he said as he pulled Lexie's bottom lip down after spotting something. "Is that a tooth?"

Emily leaned forward and looked into Lexie's mouth. There it was. A little white tooth poking through her gums. "Looks like it." she simply said as she sat back in her chair. "I didn't even notice." she added sadly.

Aaron quickly picked up on Emily's mood and nodded. "Must have sprung up overnight" he suggested as he stood up and walked over to the coffee machine. "Any plans for today?" he asked cautiously, already knowing the answer.

"Nope." Emily replied as she began cleaning up Lexie's face. "Though I'm sure Rose wishes I would get a job or else she is going to be out of one." Emily said, referring to how she had sent the nanny home early every day.

"Hey" Aaron said as he pulled Emily's arm and turned her around to look at him, "Are you ok?"

Emily ran her hand across her forehead and sighed, "Do you ever just have a feeling that your day is going to be a really terrible day?"

"I'm guessing you think today is one of those days?"

"I know it probably sounds stupid but I just have the worst feeling in the pit of my stomach." Emily explained as she turned back to Lexie, took her bib off and lifted her out of her chair.

"You've got to try and think positively Em." Aaron encouraged as he ran his hand over Lexie's head. "I know things aren't great right now, but you'll get back on your feet. I know you will."

"Yeah... I'm going to get Lexie dressed, maybe head into town or something." Emily said quietly.

"Ok..." Aaron merely replied as she let her slip past him and up the stairs. He really didn't know what he could do for his wife right now. Not when she was so unresponsive.

* * *

Aaron arrived into work that morning and was pleased to find that Kirkman had hired his old mentor Mars Harper to be his new chief of staff. Aaron had met him way back in high school and Mars was influential in getting Aaron his job in New York and his subsequent job in Washington, so he was happy to be working with an old friend.

"I heard someone finally made an honest man out of you Shore" Mars joked in reference to Emily as they walked through the hallways of the White House that morning.

"Yeah, your predecessor." Aaron said with a little laugh.

"Well then I'm sure you're in good hands with Ms Rhodes. And you have a little girl, correct?"

"Yeah, Lexie, she's 6 months old." Aaron confirmed with a proud smile. The smile was involuntary now. Any time someone asked about her he couldn't help but beam. She was the most perfect thing in his eyes.

"I'll have to meet her some time." Mars said with a smile. "Come on, I want you to meet the new director of social innovation. You might know her actually, she worked in New York around the same time you did."

"New York is a big place Mars, I'm sure I— _Isi_?" Aaron stopped dead in his tracks when he walked into the new director's office and saw his ex-girlfriend Isabel Pardo sitting at the desk.

"Aaron. It's been a long time." Isabel said with a wide smile.

"Uh- yeah, yeah it really has." he said as he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

"So, you two _do_ know each other..." Mars added.

"Oh, Aaron and I go _way_ back." Isabel cryptically confirmed as she stood from her desk.

Truth was, when Aaron worked in New York he and Isabel had dated for a while. Their relationship had ultimately failed because, well, he couldn't get his mind of a certain Emily Rhodes, even if he hadn't seen her in years, she still invaded his brain like no one ever had.

"Well... I'll leave you two to get reacquainted." Mars said as he left the room with raised eyebrows, clearly seeing how uncomfortable Aaron looked.

"So... National Security Adviser." Isabel said as she sat on the edge of her desk and folded her arms. "You got where you wanted to be."

"All proof that hard work pays off." Aaron confirmed as he put his hands in his pockets. "And congratulations on your new role." he quickly added.

Isabel smirked, "Thanks. Though, I'll admit, I was disappointed when I found out that I wouldn't get to work with the _famous_ Emily Rhodes..." No matter how much Aaron tried to admit he didn't still harbour feelings for her when they were together, Isabel knew otherwise. The amount he talked about her kind of gave him away.

"Isi-"

"Or is it Emily _Shore_ now?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow. "I saw some of your wedding pictures in the paper. I'm glad all your pining worked out for you, you're like American royalty now."

"We really don't need to talk about my wife." Aaron said courtly. He wasn't particularly enjoying her passive aggressive tone. "And I think we can put the past in the past and do our jobs, don't you?"

Isabel held her hands up, "Oh no problems here. I'm actually looking forward to working with you again Aaron. We had a good rhythm, we got each other. I don't see why we couldn't have that again."

"... right." Aaron confirmed.

"Great." Isabel confirmed with a smile before walking behind her desk. "It is good to see you again Aaron."

Aaron gulped, "You two Isi." he replied quietly, before opening the door and leaving.

 _Boy was this going to be interesting._

* * *

That night, Aaron arrived home and walked into the living room, finding Emily exactly where he expected to find her—on the sofa with a glass of wine and a book in her hand.

"Hi" he greeted softly as he kissed the side of her head before going into the kitchen and pouring himself a glass of scotch. "How was town?"

"Uneventful." Emily replied. "How was the White House?"

"Uh- a little more eventful. But we don't have to talk about it." Aaron said as he sat down beside her. He didn't want to bum her out about a job she wished she could still be in.

"Aaron I'm a big girl, you can talk about your job without me throwing a hissy fit." she replied.

Aaron gulped. That may be true, but even she couldn't anticipate what he was about to tell her.

"Well... Kirkman hired his new chief of staff. You remember Mars Harper, right?"

"Yeah, your old mentor?"

"Yeah, I really didn't except to see his face around the White House" Aaron said with a little laugh as Emily curled her knees up to her chest and turned on her side to face him.

"I'm sure it was nice for you to have a familiar face."

"Yeah... there uh—there was another familiar face too." He said cautiously as he played with the ribbons on the top of her socks.

"Oh yeah?" she asked.

"Did I—did I ever tell you about Isabel Pardo?"

Emily raised an eyebrow and smirked, "No you didn't but... Vivienne and Lenny did."

Aaron let out a laugh, "I totally forget they were your insight into my life in those missing years."

"Yeah, they uh—they weren't really her biggest fans." Emily said with a grimace.

Aaron chuckled, "Yeah, neither were George and Warner... they didn't hate her or anything, they just weren't fans of us together because... she wasn't you."

Emily held back her smile and nodded, "Good thing they got their way in the end then, huh?"

"Yeah. I don't regret the time I spent with her Em. She's from Puerto Rico and she taught me a lot about accepting my identity as a Latino—though she would probably argue that I've forfeited it all since then." he told her honestly.

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Emily warned as she ran her fingers through the sides of his hair. "What's she doing in the White House anyway?"

"She is the new director of social innovation." Aaron told her.

Emily nodded, "... that's great. I'm sure she'll do a good job... and you don't have to be weird about it."

"I know..."

"Really? Cause you're being weird right now..."

Aaron playfully rolled his eyes, "Not deliberately... but I'm serious Em. It's not a big deal, I don't care that she's there-"

"And neither do I. Work is work, home is home, that's all you need to think about." Emily told him with a small smile.

"I am sorry you're feeling so down about work and what not."

Emily sighed, "I am the least of my problems right now..."

Aaron frowned, "How do you mean?"

"Remember when I told you that today was going to be a really terrible day? Turns out I was very right." she told him as she looked down at her glass and ran her finger over the rim.

"Em... what happened?" he said as he moved closer towards her and placed his glass on the coffee table and his hand on her knee.

Emily looked up at him with tears in her eyes, "My mom called... her cancer is back."

Around ten years ago, Karen had developed ovarian cancer and managed to beat it, but it looked like the disease wasn't finished yet.

"Oh my god Em..."

"She's doing ok. For now anyway. She's started chemo but... I just can't quite get my head around it. I really thought she'd beaten it. I didn't think she would ever be here again." Emily told him as he nodded along, just letting her get all of her emotions out in the open. "It just doesn't feel _fair_."

"She's a fighter Emily, she can beat this again."

Emily nodded, "I know she can... I want to go back to Connecticut Aaron."

"What do you mean go back?"

"I mean I want to go back there and spend time with her, be there for her during this." Emily replied.

"So... you want to move home?" Aaron asked, wanting to clarify exactly what she meant.

"Not as a permanent measure. Just until I know mom is in a better place. It's not like I have a job to report to and god knows my brothers will be freaking out about this and my dad... I don't even want to think about how much of a wreck my dad is right now." Emily explained. John may be a doctor but when it came to the people he loved, he didn't find it so easy to stay calm and collected. "She needs me Aaron and I need to be with her."

"I understand." he replied as he nodded his head. "You do know I can't come with you though, right?"

Emily nodded, "I know. I wish you could, but I know you can't. I promise I will come home every weekend, I will call you every day-"

"Emily, it's ok" Aaron said as Emily set her glass down and fell into Aaron's embrace. "I know you have to do this, I _want_ you to do this." he encouraged. "No matter how selfishly I'll miss seeing you and Lexie everyday..."

"It's not forever Aaron. Just for a few weeks." Emily insisted. Right now, the only place she could imagine herself being was in her old childhood home with her family. Especially when her mother was going through this and Emily was having her own life crisis.

"I'll be right here waiting." he told her as he kissed her head and held her tightly. "I love you so much."

"I love you too Shore."

* * *

ONE MONTH LATER

Emily walked into her parent's house with some bags of groceries and set them down on the kitchen counter just as her phone started to ring. She smiled at the caller I.D before answering it.

"Hi Lenny"

"Good morning best friend, how are you?"

"I'm ok." Emily said vaguely. "How are things in DC?"

"Cold and infuriating." Lenny replied.

"You know, those were the _exact_ same words Aaron used after last night..." Emily replied.

Lenny groaned, "You watched?"

"Of course I watched the president deliver the state of the union Len." Emily said with a little laugh. She may have needed to distance herself from Washington but she still cared.

"What did you think?"

"Honestly? It was refreshing. It was nice to hear some honesty in and around the swamp. I particularly liked his line about how the system was broken and congress were the people who broke it."

Lenny chuckled, "Well maybe you could tell that to the swamp because we are getting _murdered_ up here. But I guess it wouldn't be Washington if we weren't putting out fires every 30 seconds..."

Emily scoffed, "That's true. I can't say I'm missing that part right about now..."

"Yeah... you might not be missing this place much right now Em but it misses you." Lenny said honestly.

"I doubt that."

"It's true... _he_ really misses you Em."

Emily closed her eyes and ran her index finger over the bridge of her nose, "I miss him too Lenny. I miss him so much it hurts most days." she confessed. She had barely slept the past month because she missed having him beside her and Lexie took longer to get to sleep without Aaron to rock her and sing off-key Spanish lullabies.

Lenny frowned, "But you just said you didn't— _OH_." Lenny said with a little giggle, "You're talking about _Aaron_."

Emily grimaced, "Yes, obviously I am talking about Aaron. Who the hell are you talking about?"

"The President, _dummy_."

Emily playfully rolled her eyes and let out a laugh at Lenny. Did she seriously think she would say she missed Kirkman so much that it _hurt_?

"He's been different since you left Em." Lenny said further.

"Different how?" Emily asked as she looked through the grocery bags and lifted out her mother's medication.

"I don't want to say unmoored, but you were always kind of the Kirkman whisperer and I thought if you could come back just for a little visit that would be amazing." Lenny pleaded. "And this totally isn't a veiled attempt to selfishly get you back here for Vivienne and I, we can be straight up honest with you and tell you we desperately want you back... but I am still serious about Kirkman." she rambled.

Emily sighed down the line and shook her head as she heard her mother and Lexie's laughs from the living room. "I don't know Lenny. Mom's not doing so well, she needs me here." Truth was, even though she had promised Aaron she would come home at the weekends, she'd only made it back to DC once in the past month. The chemo had been harder on Karen than expected and Emily just didn't want to leave her.

"I understand Em, I really do." Lenny sympathised. "Just- think about it?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll think about."

"Great... I love you, send my love to Karen and I'll talk to you soon, ok?"

Emily lifted the water jug and her mother's pain meds and walked into the living room.

"I love you too, talk soon." Emily said as she sat down on the sofa and Lexie immediately crawled over her.

"Hi baby" Emily said happily as she kissed Lexie's head as she snuggled into her chest. "Was she ok?"

"She was great, we had a wonderful time didn't we ladybug?" Karen said as she smiled at her granddaughter.

"Are you sure it's ok for me to leave her here with you-"

"Emily, I may have cancer but I'm not incapable of looking after my granddaughter." Karen said as she rolled her eyes. "Was that Aaron on the phone?"

"No, it was Lenny. She sends her love."

"Oh, I love Lenny. She's just so bright, you need a dose of that brightness in your life."

Emily scoffed, "Thanks mom..."

"Not that you aren't bright sweetie... just a _different_ kind of bright."

Emily chuckled, "You might want to stop digging that hole right about now... she wants me to come back to DC but I don't think I'm going to."

Karen frowned. She hated that Emily was constantly making excuses as to why she couldn't go back to DC. She knew how much she missed Aaron and she knew all those video chats quite simply weren't enough.

"Why not?" she asked, wondering what her excuse would be this time.

"You've got the oncologist and the clinic for chemo and I want to be here with you." Emily explained as she held onto Karen's hand.

"Emily..." Karen scolded. "Don't be silly, I have your father to take me to those things and three boys just around the corner too and even if I didn't have them... Sam taught me how to use Uber recently." she said with a little giggle.

Emily chuckled. She couldn't only imagine her brother trying to explain the concept of Uber to Karen. It would have no doubt been infuriating.

"If you hadn't quit your job, all the above would have been what I would be doing, I am perfectly capable of looking after myself. I'll be fine sweetheart, you have your own life to take care of, remember? I know how much Lexie misses her daddy and I don't doubt for one second that you miss him just as much..." Karen said as she raised her eyebrows knowingly.

Emily _certainly_ couldn't argue with that.

After checking in with her dad and all three of her brothers to make sure they knew exactly what was going on and to make sure _she_ knew exactly what was going on, Emily made the arrangements to head back to DC with Lexie that evening.

She arrived back at her house at around 6pm and was surprised to see the lights were on. Aaron was rarely home this early. She was relieved that he was though and eagerly opened the door. She set Lexie's car seat down and their bags just as a confused Aaron came into the hallway.

"Hi" he greeted quietly, completely shocked to see her standing there.

"Hi" she replied before stepping forward and jumping into his arms, immediately hooking her legs around his waist while he held her tightly and just breathed her in. "I missed you" she whispered as she allowed some tears to escape down her face.

Aaron smiled, "I missed you too."

 _It was good to be home_.

* * *

The following morning, Emily anxiously walked through the doors of the West Wing with Aaron securely by her side. There was something soothing about being back here, but also something a little unsettling—especially when they immediately ran into Kirkman and Mars.

"Emily" Kirkman greeted happily as Emily returned his smile. "I didn't know you were coming in today."

Emily was about to reply, but Mars answered for her, "Neither did I." he said looking directly at Aaron who gave him a disapproving look as Emily shifted awkwardly. "I didn't see her name on the schedule."

"She was a last-minute addition." Aaron informed him, raising an eyebrow to try and get Mars to at least try and be friendly to his predecessor.

Mars turned to Emily, "Mars Harper. It's a pleasure. Aaron has told me a lot about you."

Emily chuckled, "Don't believe everything you hear."

"All good things, I can assure you. You have the director of Domestic Policy Council waiting sir." Mars said to Kirkman who nodded his head.

"Emily" he said as he walked forward and gave her a hug. "Hopefully we can catch up later?"

Emily nodded her head, "We will sir."

Mars and Kirkman quickly walked on as Emily looked up at Aaron.

"You never told me Harper was so cold..." she said with a little laugh.

"He's like a dog marking his territory around here, Seth is terrified of him, he's convinced he's going to be out of a job by the end of the week." Aaron told her. "You know he's doing one of those spit in a cup things to find out about his DNA?"

"Really?" Emily questioned as they started walking through the hallway. "Why?"

"Well since he's adopted, he just wants to check in with any hereditary diseases he might have but not know about." Aaron told her.

Emily nodded her head as her face fell a thousand miles.

"What?" Aaron asked, seeing her mood completely shift.

"It's not a bad idea." she simply said.

"The DNA thing?"

"Yeah... I could carry the genetic for ovarian cancer." she added as Aaron nodded knowingly, understanding now why this was bothering her.

"So... you want to get tested?" he questioned as they walked into his office.

"Maybe, I don't know." she mumbled. "Might be good to get ahead of it, it is a total _bitch_." She couldn't bear to stand and watch what it was doing to her mother. "and it might be good to know incase Lexie has it-"

"You don't need to worry about Lexie right now." Aaron assured her as she kissed her cheek before they sat down on the sofa. "We didn't really get a chance to talk about things last night, you were out like a light when you got into bed."

Emily sighed, "Yeah I really missed my own bed... but what did you want to talk about?"

"I was just wondering if this was a short visit home or not." he said quietly. He didn't want to press the issue too much but he missed her and if he could do anything to delicately persuade her to stay, he would.

Emily fiddled with her thumbs, "I'm not sure I'm built for DC Aaron."

Aaron scoffed, "You may think that, but you were _definitely_ built to work for Tom Kirkman. I really wish you'd consider coming back Em, you know him better than anybody else you know me and Seth and Lenny better than anyone else, we _need_ you. And it's not like you need to take your old job back..."

"God forbid... but I was chief of staff Aaron, where am I supposed to go after that?" Emily asked quietly.

"They're creating new jobs around here all the time-"

"Like Isabel's new job?" Emily asked with a raised eyebrow.

"... maybe." he said with a shrug.

There was a light knock at the door as one of Aaron's aides appeared.

"Aaron, I got that information on Puerto Rico you were looking for." he said as he handed him the file.

"Thanks Dan." Aaron replied as he smiled and left the room.

"Puerto Rico? Since when do you care about Puerto Rico?" Emily asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I care about all unincorporated US territories." he said with a shrug.

"Uh huh..." Emily said with a knowing smirk. "Isn't your ex-girlfriend Puerto Rican?"

Aaron raised an eyebrow, "You keeping tabs on me now Rhodes?"

"No... but you haven't spoken about her since she started working here..." Emily said as she leant back in her seat. "Anything new with her?"

"Em." Aaron asked, looking at her like she couldn't possibly be asking him that question.

Emily held up a hand, "I'm just curious"

"You're snooping."

"I am _not_ snooping."

"You're snooping on my ex." he insisted with a lopsided smirk.

"Oh, as _if_ you wouldn't start snooping if one of my exes started working here..." she said with an eye roll.

"It's ok Em, I understand. You're hot when you're jealous anyway, so I am in fact _very_ understanding..." he teased as he leant forward for a kiss, but Emily placed a hand over his mouth.

"Nice try Romeo."

Aaron pouted, "See, don't you miss this? Bossing me around the West Wing, secret little meetings..." he said as he delicately kissed her jaw and ran his hand up her leg.

Emily giggled, "You need to get your head out of the gutter." she said as she pushed him away but he immediately pulled closer to her.

Aaron frowned, "That's impossible when you're around."

Emily smiled lightly at him as she held the lapels of his suit, "I missed _this_."

"Missed what?"

"You, being goofy, making me smile..." she said. "I am such a dork when you're around, it's quite frankly _embarrassing_."

Aaron laughed, "well if you're a dork them I am the dorkiest of dorks."

"With sayings like that, we're in agreement there..." she teased as he pinched her leg before laughing lightly.

* * *

That evening, Kirkman had Emily, Aaron and Seth over for dinner to discuss the upcoming election and to ensure he had made the right choice by running. These three had been with him since the start, they knew him better than anyone on his staff and he trusted them with his life.

" _It's not 'can I win?', it's 'why am I running in the first place?'"_

Emily's words struck a chord with Tom. She was right. He had been asking the wrong questions. He had been making this about him when he should have been making this about the country. It was then that he realised he needed Emily in his administration. He had never more been sure of anything.

Emily felt a real peace about being asked to come back as a senior staff member. Maybe Aaron was right. Maybe DC was where she was meant to be. Or more specifically—she was meant to be working for Tom Kirkman. She kept him honest and to him that was invaluable.

Emily's only concern about coming back to Washington was her mother. She felt like Karen really needed her in Connecticut, but Aaron was quick to remind her that she still had John and the boys and if she really felt she needed to be there, it was only a short plane ride away.

So, Emily said yes. She jumped on board the Kirkman train again, ready to lead her boss to office once more.

* * *

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	51. Parental Guilt

**Parental Guilt**

* * *

6 MONTHS LATER

Emily rushed through the front door of the West Wing in a complete frenzy. She was late for a senior staff meeting because she was up all night preparing _for_ the meeting. She was also suffering severe mom guilt today. It was Lexie's 1st birthday and she and Aaron couldn't be at home to spend the day with her. They had planned a family party for this weekend and they knew Lexie would be none the wiser, but she still wished that one chorus of happy birthday and a present that she ripped to pieces this morning wasn't the only thing she would be getting from them today.

"Emily! Do you have a minute?" Isabel asked as she intercepted her in the hallway.

Emily had been officially introduced to Isabel the day she visited the White House back in January and she had been pleasant, but they weren't exactly on the fast track to becoming best friends. They were cordial, the worked together when they had to, but they rarely saw one another and neither were particularly disappointed by that.

"Senior staff meeting, so late." Emily told her as she furiously typed on her work issued phone.

"I know you are crazed with infrastructure, there are a million moving parts and it's your baby-"

"No, Lexie is my baby and it's her 1st birthday today and I'm not there to spend it with her, does that make me a terrible mother?" Emily asked frantically as she finally stopped and looked at her, as Isabel's eyes widened at her sudden outburst.

"Uh, no, it definitely doesn't, she'll grow up to see you being a boss and want to be a boss herself, it's inspiring." Isabel replied.

Emily nodded her head, "I guess so... I don't think that's going to shift my mom guilt though." she said honestly as she started walking quickly again, almost forgetting how late for the meeting she was. She had pushed Aaron out the door this morning so at least one of them wasn't late from fawning over Lexie all morning but now she was suffering the consequences.

"Anyway, I thought you might like to know there's a mistake with the rollout." Isabel told her.

"What?" Emily snapped, not needing to hear this today.

"Yeah, I'm not on it." Isabel replied.

Emily let out a breath and internally rolled her eyes. Today was really not the day for this. "Isabel, I am late for this meeting on my own project because I was up until 5am making sure every last-minute detail was perfect, that's _not_ a mistake."

Isabel gritted her teeth, "Do you even _know_ about the initiative my department funded with Fayetteville?" She guessed not. The only world Emily Rhodes seemed to care about was her own.

Emily's phone started to buzz as she saw she had some missed calls and 'where are you' texts from Aaron and an incoming call from her mother.

"I really don't have time for this right now." Emily said as she walked into Mars' office and closed the door in a frustrated Isabel's face. That moment certainly wasn't going to do anything for their tenuous work relationship.

Emily slightly slipped into the room and stood beside Aaron.

"Nice of you to join us..." Aaron teased.

Emily elbowed him in the side, "Shut up."

"Now, a couple of more heartwarming announcements" Mars said with a small smile, "I think we can all congratulate Emily and Aaron on the fact that they managed to keep their child alive for a whole _year_ and not yet screw her up by being workaholics." Emily rolled her eyes at Mars' backhanded birthday wish. "Happy birthday Lexie from all of us here in the White House, and also..."

Mars clicked onto the next slide to reveal Aaron pasted on the front of a magazine.

"Oh, I have no idea how that got in here..." Mars joked as he clicked through the reveal the magazine's photos of Aaron out running.

Emily's eyes widened as Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose, "Oh my god, you made a sexiest politicians list?!"

"Don't worry Emily, the magazine made it very clear that he is _not_ a bachelor and it even dubbed you a part of one of the sexiest couples in Washington." Mars told her as he clicked through again and showed a picture of them on the beach in their swim wear. Aaron had his arms wrapped around Emily's waist while her hands rested on his biceps, her head thrown back slightly as they laughed about something.

"Well, _that's_ an invasion." Emily said through her teeth. She could see how frustrated Aaron was by this whole thing.

"Can we move on please?" Aaron begged.

As Mars cleared his throat and continued on with the meeting.

* * *

A little while later, Emily knocked on Aaron's door with the magazine in hand in an attempt to find some humour in it. As she opened the door her mouth fell agape when she found Aaron sitting at his desk and pictures from the magazine plastered all over his office.

Emily held back a laugh, "Oh my god..."

"Yeah." Aaron said through his teeth as he furiously scribbled something down on the page.

"I uh—I don't really have the words for this..." she said as she walked closer to his desk.

"Neither do I."

"Though, the article on you is a _really_ good read..." Emily said with a little laugh as she raised an eyebrow.

Aaron sighed and sat back in his chair, "Emily, please don't buy into all this stuff..."

"I'm not Aaron, but laughing about it is better than letting it get to our heads." she said as she opened the magazine to read a section on it. "Unfortunately for all you crushing ladies out there, Aaron Shore is off the market. He married high school sweetheart and former Chief of Staff Emily Rhodes a year and a half ago forming the most beautiful and accomplished couple in Washington. We wish we could hate them but they are just too _perfect_." she read with a proud smirk. High school sweetheart certainly was one way to describe their relationship. "Hear that Aaron? We're _perfect_."

Aaron scoffed, "Perfectly imperfect. We are missing our daughter's 1st birthday after all..." he said with a sigh.

Emily set the magazine down, "You feeling as guilty as I feel?"

"Oh yeah." he replied as he ran a hand down his face. "I know she's none the wiser but it's all I can think about today. I just want to spend the day with her, listening to her little laugh and watching her smash cake all over her face."

"And we will do that on Saturday. We can just pretend like that's her actual birthday and we didn't miss it at all." Emily assured him as he nodded. She was assuring _herself_ more than anything too. "And... I know this magazine thing is bothering you and you may think that it's taking away from your intellect and what you are actually achieving as National Security Adviser, but I can assure you that it's not. What you do matters, even if people can't see it."

Aaron nodded his head lightly, "Thanks..."

Emily's phone started ringing and she frowned when she saw her mother was video calling her.

"Mom, hi. Why the video call?" she asked.

"Oh, hi honey, I'm sorry to bother you, I just wanted to show you something." Karen said. The chemo had been really difficult on her and she was growing weaker and weaker every day. Right now, she was struggling to perform basic tasks and Emily could hear that her breath was laboured.

"I'm with Aaron mom" Emily said as she walked around Aaron's desk and sat on the arm of the chair so he could see the phone.

"Hi Karen, how are you?" Aaron asked.

"Oh I'm just fine Aaron, I saw your magazine cover and that just put me in a good mood!" she said with a little giggle as Emily held back a laugh. "Just so handsome, it's no wonder that Lexie is so cute."

Aaron chuckled, "It's all Emily..."

"What did you want to show me mom?"

"OH, yes of course, there was a purpose for me ringing and not just to fan over the fact that I know one of Washington's sexiest politicians..." she said with a smirk and raised eyebrows. Emily was glad than in the midst of her illness, Karen still hadn't lost her sense of humour and vivaciousness.

Karen disappeared from the camera for a few moments and came back with her new wig on. Emily's face fell as Aaron tightened his grip around her waist, seeing a tear fall from her eye.

"What do you think?" Karen asked. "I was going to ask the boys but what do they know about anything?" she said with a little eyeroll as Emily and Aaron let out a laugh.

"It looks great mom." Emily assured her.

"Thanks honey, I knew I could count on you to tell me how _fabulous_ I looked... now, I better let Washington's sexiest couple get back to work. Call me later sweetie and remember to give Lexie the biggest birthday kisses from me." Karen told them.

"We will, mom, talk to you later."

"Bye Karen."

Emily hung up the phone and let out a little laugh, drying away her few stray tears. "You know she's never going to let you forget about this magazine, right? She probably already has it framed and is getting dad to put it on the wall."

"Dear god..." Aaron groaned as they both started to laugh about it for the first time. Emily was right—what else could they do?

* * *

At the end of the day, Aaron and Emily rushed home to spend what time they could with Lexie before bedtime. They got her fed and bathed and were sitting on the floor of the living room as she played all around them. She had started pulling herself up recently and Aaron and Emily were eagerly anticipating her first steps, though every time she looked like she was about to take off, she sat back down again.

"Did Seth tell you about his kid?" Emily asked as she handed Lexie a building block for her to add to her tower.

"I'm sorry, _what_?" Aaron asked with wide eyes.

"When he was a freshman at Harvard, he donated his sperm and someone picked him... he has a 21-year-old daughter called Stephanie." Emily said with a little laugh. It certainly wasn't the news he was expecting to hear as he walked out the door.

"Damn... what's he going to do?"

"He has no idea. She reached out to him but she's not sure that he wants to go there. Could open up a lot of problems..." Emily said.

"That's true... _damn._ Imagine finding out you have a kid all because you sent some of your spit off to a lab." Aaron said with a shake of his head.

"I know, it's crazy, right?" Emily said as she ran a hand through her hair before looking back at Lexie and freezing. "Oh my god Aaron." she whispered as she grabbed his arm.

Aaron looked over at Lexie in a frenzy and then froze too. "She's standing... on her own... and not falling down."

"Oh my god this is it, this is it!" Emily said excitedly as they both shot up. "Lexie, baby, come to momma, come on, you can do it!" Emily said with a wide smile as she held out her arms. She smacked Aaron in the chest, "Aaron get out your camera."

"I don't have my phone-"

"Aaron! Aaron!" Emily squealed as Lexie started to put one unsteady foot forward and them then the other and began stumbling towards them. "She's walking oh my god, Aaron, camera!" Emily shouted as she gave him a shove, causing him to stumble and smack his toe off the coffee table.

" _God dammit Emily_!" Aaron exclaimed in pain as he held onto his toe while trying to keep his eyes on Lexie as she walked.

"Oh baby I'm sorry!" she apologised, but she really couldn't care less about Aaron's toe right now. Her little girl was _walking_.

"Yeah, that's broken..." he said as he saw his toe already turning purple.

Lexie's eyes widened at Emily's excited squealing and Aaron's screwed up face, and froze where she was. Emily's face fell as she saw the panic on Lexie's.

"Oh it's ok honey, keep going, you can keep going!" Emily encouraged but Lexie shook her head, sat down on her butt and stared straight up at them. "We just scared her off walking. She's not going to do it ever again." Emily dramatised.

"I think that's a little dramatic-" Aaron said as he hobbled to sit in the arm chair in the corner of the room.

"I don't even care" Emily said as she lifted Lexie up and hugged her tightly. "This was quite the birthday for you little Miss Shore, wasn't it?" she said with a giggle.

Even though they couldn't really celebrate with Lexie today, they figured this moment right here was a pretty good end to the day.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang and Emily and Aaron frowned.

"Who could that be?" Aaron asked as he hobbled to the door to answer it.

Emily shrugged, "Probably one of your exes making a drunken booty call after they saw that magazine..." she joked as Aaron playfully rolled his eyes.

Aaron opened the door and frowned at the unexpected guest. _"Lorraine?"_ he queried when he saw Kirkman's campaign manager on the other side of the door.

"Aaron, hi, can we talk?" she asked as Emily stood in the hallway with Lexie to see what was going on.

Aaron looked back at a confused Emily, "Now's not really a good time-"

"Come by the campaign office tomorrow morning. Oh, and think about whether you'd like to join the ticket as Kirkman's VP." she said with a little smile before turning around and leaving again.

Aaron slowly closed the door and turned around to look at Emily. They both had equal amounts of shock written on their faces.

"Did she just-" Emily said, but not finding it in her to finish her question.

"Yeah. She did." Aaron mumbled, struggled to take this all in.

Vice president? She wanted him to be _vice president_? _Damn._

* * *

The following morning, Emily and Aaron marched into the campaign headquarters. Since Emily didn't trust Lorraine following her child marriage opinions, she got the go-head from Kirkman to transfer to work on the campaign. She wanted to keep an eye on her and make sure she wasn't up to anything sketchy. For Aaron, he was nervously here to talk about joining the ticket as Kirkman's VP. Last night, Emily and Aaron had decided for now, it was a no go, unless Lorraine gave them a very good reason as to why he should sign on. Aaron liked where he was at, he didn't see any compelling evidence to give that up.

They sat in Lorraine's office impatiently. Emily soon stood up and started pacing slightly. She only froze when she realised some of Lorraine's staff were staring through the glass at Aaron in completely awe that _Aaron Shore_ was here. Clearly that article had gone straight to everyone's heads around here. Emily folded her arms and raised her eyebrows at them, and they quickly walked away when they saw her.

Lorraine soon walked in and smiled. "Hi... Emily. I didn't expect to have to talk this through with you too."

"Oh I'm here on official business, I'm joining the campaign."

Lorraine frowned, "The President assured me that I would have exclusive prerogative over hiring and firing."

Emily stood her ground, "Well, if you'd like to call him-"

"Ah, he doesn't trust me." Lorraine concluded as she folded her arms and matched Emily's stance.

"Not the case, _I_ don't trust you and he trusts me."

"So, you're here as keeper of the flame?"

"I'm here to help in whatever way I can." Emily said calmly, quickly realising that working with Lorraine was probably going to be more difficult that she thought.

"Ok, fine, you can be the new campaign spokesperson." Lorraine said as she turned her attention to Aaron who was still sitting quietly in the corner. "Your first job can be to announce our new candidate for VP!" she said excitedly.

Aaron shook his head, "I never said yes. I am flattered but I'm happy with my current position and I'm from Texas which Moss will carry as a native son so I'd be no help to the ticket geographically." he reasoned. "And there's the fact that I've never run for office. I don't have the appetite to and I don't think I'd be much good at it."

Lorraine smirked, "Yet you waited despite my tardiness, so you must be intrigued... and your wife is giving you some looks here and I know those looks."

Emily sighed, "I'm not giving him looks."

"You think he could do it."

"Of course I think he could do it, but that's not the issue here, he also has to _want_ to do it." Emily reasoned.

"Hey, your surname, do you have an Anglo father?" Lorraine asked as she sat beside him.

Aaron nodded, "Yeah he and his father are from Texas, though his mother was a Mexican immigrant and my mother is a Mexican immigrant."

"How would you feel about taking on your mother's maiden name?"

Aaron stood up, quickly realising the only reason Lorraine was considering him for this was because of his heritage and that just didn't sit right with him.

"If this is about exploiting my Latino background then I'll pass."

"Oh, come on Aaron, don't be so touchy. You're an excellent fit. You bolster Kirkman's foreign policy bona fides, your experienced, you're admired, hell, you and Emily are like freakin' American royalty and I could turn you into _actual_ American royalty through this campaign if that is what you wanted." Lorraine said with a little laugh as Aaron held back a laugh watching Emily's eyes roll into the back of her head. "The next Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, a beautiful love story and yeah, sue me, you're Latino. I want to explain to all of America that the president and hopefully you are a new and amazing choice."

Aaron looked over at Emily for some guidance but she really didn't know what to say. Of course she thought he could do it, there was no question in her mind about that, but he had to really want it. This was a huge deal and could drastically change their lives and Lexie's life too. He had to be sure.

" _We'll_ think about it." He said, making it clear that this was a decision he and Emily had to make together.

Lorraine scoffed, "Try thinking about anything else. Now, off to work you two!" she teased as they left her office, knowing that their minds would be elsewhere for the rest of the day.

* * *

That night, Emily and Aaron walked into the bedroom and began to get ready for bed. It had been a long day with a lot to think about and while they just wanted to get into bed and sleep, they knew they needed to talk about this.

"So... how you feeling?" Emily asked as she sat on the bed and took her shoes off.

"Well, I know I said I would think about it, but I went to speak to Kirkman today and I was waiting for him to bring it up and he never did. Honestly, I felt a little disappointed when he didn't." Aaron confessed as he took off his shirt.

Emily smiled softly, "maybe that's a sign that you want this."

"Yeah... maybe. It is the 2nd most powerful position in the free world."

Emily chuckled as she continued to undress, "That's true but if I remember correctly when I spoke to you at lunch time, it was essentially a bucket of warm piss to you."

"... my thoughts are evolving."

Emily laughed, "clearly. It would make you a plausible presidential contender." she pointed out. "Kirkman can only serve for one more term, he would be passing the baton on to you at the end, lining you up for victory."

Aaron scoffed, "that is something I have never dreamt of."

"Aaron, I have known you since you were 18 years old, this is exactly what you dreamed of. Maybe without realising it but you came to Washington for a reason and I don't think it was to be National Security Adviser." Emily told him honestly.

"I guess I just never thought something like this would be possible." he said quietly. "The first Latino VP... it's an amazing thing, but I don't want it to be the only thing that makes me a worthwhile candidate."

"Lorraine can talk up the Latino thing all she wants but you know Kirkman and you know his character. There's no way he would pick someone if he didn't think they were completely capable of taking on the role, especially with the luck he's been having with VPs lately." Emily reminded him. Emily stood up and walked towards him, resting her hands on the back of his neck. "Listen, I know your identity is something you have struggled with your whole life and especially since coming to Washington, but you worked it out for yourself, I've seen that first hand, I know how proud you are of where you came from and I think it will survive whatever external objectification you might be in for in a national campaign."

"Yeah, you're right... but that's not just it Em. Our lives as we know it will completely change. We will be under _so_ much scrutiny, our lives won't be our own, Lexie's life might not even be her own." Aaron reminded her. She may just be a little girl but the press would have no problem targeting her too for whatever reason.

"Aaron if this is something you want then we will work through all of that. We've had to deal with our fair share of tabloid headlines already, what's a few more?" she reasoned. "Don't let your dreams just be dreams Aaron. You'll only regret it if you do."

"Ok... let's do it." he said as he lifted out his phone and walked to the door.

"Hey, wait, before you call her... do you think I'm naïve?"

Aaron frowned, "What? No, no..."

Emily rolled her eyes, "If you're going to be VP you're going to have to try and sound a little more convincing."

Aaron let out a laugh, "Where is this coming from?"

"Lorraine called me Pollyanna today..."

"Consider the source Emily."

"Lorraine is a pro and that was an evasive answer. I take it back; you're going to be fine as VP." she said with a glare. Evasiveness was a key political trait after all.

"Em, you have principles and having principles doesn't make you naïve. There's nothing wrong with having standards." Aaron reasoned.

"... maybe. Go make your call."

Aaron took a few steps back towards her and kissed her. "I don't know what I'd do without you Pollyanna" he teased.

Emily laughed and shoved him away, "Go!"

* * *

 _Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Lexie, happy birthday to you!_

Cheers irrupted in the Rhodes-Shore kitchen as Vivienne and Warner's son James stood beside Lexie's high chair and helped her blow out her birthday candle. After a crazy week, Aaron and Emily were glad that they could come together with their best friends and finally properly celebrate their daughter turning one. They snapped some pictures, ate a lot of cake and watched Lexie as she was more interested in the wrapping paper than she was in her presents. She still hadn't taken another step since her actual birthday and her parents were convinced they'd scared her for life—another thing to add to why they were suffering from parental guilt.

Emily sat safely tucked into Aaron as he rested his arm around her shoulder. She smiled softly at Lexie while she played with James before turning to Aaron, "You know, no matter what happens over this campaign, no matter what is said in the papers or how overwhelming it all becomes... we'll always have this to come home to. We'll always have these people and nothing will ever change that."

Aaron looked down at his wife and for the first time he felt truly peaceful about his decision. She was right. Nothing would ever change their family and he had to hold on to that amidst the chaos.

* * *

 **Don't forget to review...**


	52. Identity Crisis

**Hi everyone, I am loving seeing some new stories on here... the more Emron the better! After this chapter, I have 4 more chapters written based on season 3, so stayed tuned this week as I post them.**

 **Hope you enjoy this instalment!**

* * *

 **Identity Crisis**

A few weeks later, Aaron walked out of the bathroom and saw Emily involuntarily swaying her hips to the salsa music on the radio as she got dressed. He watched with a smirk as she pulled her skirt on and observed her reflection, still moving in time with the music. He couldn't stand back and watch for much longer and he walked forward and immediately tried to pull her skirt back down as his other hand slid across her exposed stomach.

"Aaron" Emily scolded with a giggle as he smirked against her jaw and began kissing down her neck. He managed to push her skirt to the floor before Emily turned around and pushed him onto the bed, straddling his lap. She leant forward and kissed him as her hands roamed through his hair and his travelled down her back and rested on her butt.

"You have approximately two minutes before Lexie wakes up" Emily said between kisses.

Aaron expertly rolled them over so he was lying on top. "I can do a lot in two minutes..." he teased as Emily started to laugh.

" _That song goes out to Aaron Shore, the proud son of Mexico nominated for-"_

" _Hold up mano, I've never seen him in the parranda and now he's suddenly a proud son of Mexico? He's never stood with a Mexican-"_

Emily and Aaron both sighed as they stopped what they were doing. _Way to kill the mood radio._ Aaron rolled off her as Emily got up and turned the radio off.

"I'm sorry babe" Emily said quietly as she pulled her clothes back on.

"I've heard worse..." Aaron mumbled as he sat on the edge of the bed.

Emily frowned and walked towards him. "Hold still..." she said as she turned his head and inspected his side burns with a smirk. "Are you going _grey_?"

Aaron frowned, "I'm not going grey." he said as he swatted her hand away but she quickly raised it again and pulled out a grey hair. "Ow, _Emily_!"

"That is grey" she said holding the hair up as he took it from her and examined it.

"I can't be going grey..."

Emily ran the tips of her fingers through the sides of his hair with a smile, "I like it, it's character defining."

"Can't say I feel the same..." he grumbled.

Emily sighed, seeing that this whole radio thing had clearly bothered him. "You know... I think you should talk to Isabel."

"... about what?"

"About being Latino and what that should mean for you now you're running for VP." Emily said as she finished buttoning up her shirt. "You said a while back that she really helped you embrace your identity when you were together, maybe she could help you do that again."

"And you would be ok with that?"

Emily rolled her eyes, "Of course I would be ok with that Aaron, you're asking her for some advice, I'm not this jealous monster incapable of seeing that."

Aaron nodded his head, "I'll think about it."

Exactly as Emily had predicted, Lexie's babbles of 'mama' 'dada' and 'baba' started coming through the monitor.

"Like clockwork" Emily said with a smile as she walked out of the room to get Lexie up.

A short while later, Aaron and Emily were rushing around the kitchen and living room lifting their stuff for the day while Lexie ate her breakfast.

"So, what's it like having me on your communications portfolio?" Aaron said as he handed her the file.

Emily smirked, "It's kind of fun telling you what to do again..."

Aaron chuckled, "Just like old times."

"Yeah... oh, by the way... this came yesterday" she said as she held up an envelope from the health department.

Aaron took it from her and gulped, "Your cancer DNA test results."

Emily nodded, "Yeah" she said in a whisper.

"I take it by the fact that you haven't opened it... you don't really want to." Aaron concluded.

"Good guess." she said as she took the envelope from him and put it in her bag. "Your mom sent all those baby photos by the way, you are very cute-"

"Em, don't dodge the subject." he said as he held onto her hand.

Emily sighed, realising that it would be best to just come clean with what she was feeling.

"These mutations mean there is a 70% chance that I'm going to get cancer. My mom already has it so that makes it pretty damn certain. If these results are positive it means I have three options. I can wait to get cancer, chop off my boobs or remove my ovaries. So no more kids, no boobs, or both. It is a really shitty situation and it is the last thing I want to deal with right about now." she confessed. Aaron simply nodded, realising that this wasn't an issue he should be pushing. Instead, he just pulled her into his chest and held her tightly.

The back door soon opened and Lexie's nanny appeared.

"Hi Rose" Emily greeted as she put her coat on.

"Hey guys... is there a reason all those people are camped outside your house?"

Emily and Aaron frowned, "What are you talking about?"

They made their way into their dining room and looked out the window, their mouths falling open at the masses of reporters and security detail. They looked at each other in shock. This certainly wasn't what they expected to be facing this morning. They quickly gathered their stuff, kissed Lexie goodbye and made their way out the door to face the music.

" _Mr and Mrs Shore, are rumours of your second pregnancy true?"_

" _When is your due date Mrs Shore?"_

" _Are you planning on quitting your job to help your husband on the campaign trail Mrs Shore?"_

Emily and Aaron were quickly ushered into a car by Lorraine, completely confused by the barrage at their front door. They guessed privacy really was dead in this town.

"What the hell was that about?" Aaron asked Lorraine.

Lorraine giggled, "Someone posted on Reddit last night that Emily looked like she was pregnant."

Emily rolled her eyes, "I don't know what to be more insulted by- the fact that someone thought I looked pregnant and CNBS followed the rumours of an online forum, or the press have started calling me _Mrs. Shore_ and not Emily Rhodes like they have always done, all because of Aaron's VP nod." she said with a sigh. "And how did you know to come riding to our rescue?"

"Oh Emily as much as you _irritate_ me I like how unrelenting you are." Lorraine said as Emily clenched her jaw and Aaron squeezed her hand. They figured they would be doing a lot of that over the next few months. "Now, I didn't start the pregnancy rumour but I did make sure it landed in a few select inboxes."

Aaron glared. This was the last thing Emily needed right now, especially with her cancer DNA results sitting in her bag. Having more kids might not even happen for them depending on what was in that envelope.

"Lorraine, why would you do that?" he scolded as he saw Emily look out the window with tears in her eyes.

"Oh come on, everybody loves a good, romantic, loving family, this is great publicity!"

" _Lorraine._ "

"It's true, no matter how much you hate it. Why isn't Lexie here, she would have made that photo op _perfect_!"

"She is with her nanny and that wasn't a photo op Lorraine, that was an invasion of our home, _don't_ let it happen again." Emily warned as Lorraine pulled a face.

"Alright little miss pissy pants..."

* * *

"Hey" Isabel greeted Aaron when she saw him standing at her door. After being a little stubborn about it, Aaron decided that it wouldn't hurt to talk to Isabel about this stuff. She wouldn't sugar coat anything and she'd surly find a way to knock his pride out the window. "I heard your name mentioned on the radio this morning." she told him as he came in and sat opposite her.

"Yeah, not my finest moment... it's why I'm here actually."

Isabel raised an eyebrow, "What? You think I have some sort of control over Latino radio stations?" she joked.

"Wouldn't put it past you to find a way to make some unnecessary passive aggressive comments at me..." he joked back as she chuckled and held up her hands in surrender. "But no. You've always been a lot better at understand and accepting and appreciating your Latino heritage and you really helped me do that when I was in New York and I could do with your help doing the same now." he told her sheepishly.

"Wow... I was not expecting this today." she confessed as she sat back in her chair. "Couldn't you talk to your _wife_ about it?"

"She was the one who told me I should talk to you."

"Wow, she's _so_ understanding..." Isabel mocked.

"What did I just say about unnecessary passive aggressive comments?" Aaron asked getting a little frustrated.

"You're right, sorry." she apologised. "This radio thing really bothered you, huh?"

Aaron nodded, "More than I'd care to admit."

"Well, just don't rice and beans it."

Aaron frowned, "What are you talking about?"

"When we first started dating way back when, you told me that you didn't like rice and beans because everybody expected you to eat that. Then I made you my mother's famous arroz con habichuela and you ate that shit _up_."

"What are you getting at?" Aaron asked, wondering how she was going to turn this into more than just a blast into their past.

"I'm saying don't not do something good because you're worried about being stereotyped... like pushing immigration reform at your interviews this week." she suggested with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah because all Mexicans want to talk about is immigration..."

"Just a suggestion, you are the one who came to me after all." she reminded him. "Oh congratulations on the new baby by the way."

Aaron raised an eyebrow, "Isi you know that tabloid is a pack of lies."

"I don't know Aaron. It describes you and Emily as the most perfect couple on the planet which is the image you two seem to convey to the world." she said, the scepticism in her voice perfectly evident.

Aaron stood from the chair and cleared his voice, "Nobody is perfect." he simply replied. This was the last thing he wanted to be getting into right now.

"Yeah. Guess it all is a pack of lies." she said through her teeth.

Aaron clenched his jaw, not sure what Isabel was trying to get at, but he wasn't going to let it bother him. She could make digs about his marriage all she wanted, but it certainly wasn't going to change anything.

"Something you want to get off your mind?" he asked as she put his hands in his pockets.

Isabel shrugged, "I just hope screwing over a shit ton of people on your way to get to Emily ended how you hoped it would. No regrets."

Aaron shook his head, "I've already apologised to you, countless times Isabel. I'm not going to do it again."

"It's my own fault really. I shouldn't have been so naïve as to think we could have worked when you couldn't get over her." Isabel replied. "Shut the door on your way out."

Aaron let out a sigh as he swiftly left her office. If Isabel couldn't get over their past that was her problem, not his. She was right, however, about her advice on being a Latino. He shouldn't rice and beans it. He was here to do good and that's exactly what he was going to do.

* * *

That afternoon, Emily sat in her office scrolling through photos of Lexie on her computer with a small smile on her face. She could barely remember life without her and she always imagined having more children someday, but she was scared by what the contents of that envelope would tell her. Part of her just didn't want to know what her future held, but at the same time, she wanted to get ahead of it. She reached into her bag and held the envelope in her hands. She was about to open it and get it over with when Lorraine sheepishly walked into her office.

"What can I do for you Lorraine?" Emily asked with a sigh as she dropped the envelope back in her bag.

"Well, first of all, I wanted to apologise for this morning."

Emily shrugged, "What's done is done."

"I had the campaign reach out and squash the rumours. I suppose you should be able to maintain some form of privacy in all of this..."

Emily scoffed, "I'm starting to think that's not possible."

"I guess we'll find out. With widow Kirkman off the market, you're going to be one of the most scrutinised women in America come the fall." Lorraine reminded her as she sat opposite her.

"I'm already pretty scrutinised." Emily reminded her. She had been the moment she stepped in as Kirkman's chief of staff and the scrutiny was amped up the moment the press caught wind of her relationship with Aaron.

"True, but this is a whole other level of scrutiny. Sure, you're Aaron's wife but you're also the _campaign'_ s wife. You could be taking on a lot of first lady type duties very soon. I suppose it will give you a job at the end of all this." Lorraine reminded her. Emily couldn't say that the thought of dinner parties and décor appealed to her all that much, but she also knew Alex found a way to make a difference when she assumed the role, so maybe she could too.

"Maybe it could be a good position for me, but right now, I don't want to be a prop. I'm a valuable member of Kirkman's administration and I'd rather that wasn't forgotten." Emily made clear.

"Emily I may find you naïve and annoying and far too principled but... I _do_ like you. You've fought your way through a boy's club and you've come out on top as one of the President's most trusted staffers. I admire that and there's no point pretending that you're not at a loss since you resigned as chief of staff. So—let me help you. I can make you somebody again."

Emily leant back in her chair, "I will do what I have to do for Aaron, but I'd rather make my own way in the world. Speaking of doing my job..." she said as she placed a file in front of Lorraine. "Aaron's numbers, his likability is through the roof." she said with a proud smile.

"That's good and since you are so keen to do your job you can follow up on something for me. Aaron's vetters found some banking irregularities, consistent payments made a few years back to a woman named Mariluz Santiago, I need you to make sure they're not child support payments." she said with a grimace.

Emily froze and looked at Lorraine in complete disbelief. "Hold on... back up a few steps. Did you seriously just _casually_ ask me to make sure my husband hasn't been paying child support payments to another woman?"

Lorraine rolled her eyes, "You said you wanted to be treated as a valuable member of Kirkman's administration and not just as Aaron's wife, so I am doing exactly that and asking you to do your job, there is seriously no pleasing you!"

Emily couldn't believe what she was hearing from Lorraine. "Isn't this the sort of information vetters find?"

"I need the stuff that lawyers can't find, you know him Emily, you sleep in the same bed as him."

Emily scoffed, "Would you make up your mind about whether you're treating me like a colleague or as Aaron's wife?"

"Sweetie, I think it's pretty clear that the two are intertwined right now, don't you think?"

"I'm not going to betray him Lorraine. Whatever it is, I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation. I've known him since I was 16 years old, I think I would know if he had a secret child out there."

Lorraine raised her eyebrows, "16 years old? _Wow._ People are going to _love_ that, a high school sweetheart story... and you'd be betraying him and your boss if you didn't do your job and get in front of this scandal Emily."

Emily sighed and scratched her eyebrow, "Is that all?"

"Yep, have fun!" Lorraine said as she waltzed out of the room as if she had caused zero damage.

 _Could this day get any worse?_

* * *

That night, Emily sat in Seth's office waiting for Aaron to finish his final meeting so they could go home. She watched as Seth scrolled through Stephanie's Instagram page, trying to find inspiration on what to buy her for her birthday.

"Look, this is her bowling, on vacation, high school graduation..." Seth told her as he showed her the photos.

"You know she can see who's been creeping her on her Instagram, right?" Emily told him.

Seth frowned, "You're kidding."

"Nope..."

"Fantastic..." he grumbled just as Aaron walked into the room.

"Everything alright?"

"Oh yeah, don't mind me, just being creepy..." Seth grumbled again.

Aaron looked at Emily with raised eyebrows, who just sighed and shook her head with a look on her face that let him know it wasn't worth asking about.

"Can we go home please?" Emily asked.

Aaron smiled, "Of course we can." he said as she lifted her stuff and walked towards him. "Any big plans tonight Seth?"

"Oh, just some Netflix and chill." he replied with a shrug.

Emily giggled, "Who's the lucky lady?"

Seth grimaced, "Is that what that means? Really? Well... it's just me... I'll see you kids later."

"Bye" Emily said with a laugh as she and Aaron left his office.

"How was your day?" Aaron asked as he placed his hand on her waist.

"It was... a day." Emily replied as they got into their car. Somehow, Aaron had managed to convince his new secret service detail that he could drive his own car for now, and they picked it up for him that afternoon (though the still trailed behind him in their own car). "I guess I've been feeling the pressure of this VP scrutiny and the pregnancy rumours." she confessed quietly as she looked out the side window and Aaron drove away from the White House.

"Yeah. It's pretty hard being under the microscope."

"Speaking of... something came up under the lens." Emily said as she awkwardly cleared her throat. She really had no idea what Aaron's explanation could be about these bank payments. "Does the name Mariluz Santiago sound familiar? Your bank account show payments made to her over the last four years and I need to know what to say if it comes up."

"She's just an old friend." Aaron said courtly.

"Right... and the payments?"

"I helped her pay for college, what's the big deal?" he asked, a little more harshly than he had intended.

Emily turned to look at him and saw his grip had tightened on the wheel. "What are you not telling me?" she demanded to know.

Aaron sighed figuring that if he could trust anyone with this it was his wife.

"When I was 16, I visited my aunt in Juarez, just over the border and she took me to this meeting at her church. There were a lot of kids there and when it was over, she asked me to drive some of them back with me to El Paso. So, I did. I learned a few years later that my aunt ran this group that would take kids away from cartels and the kids I drove back with me were undocumented." he explained.

Emily simply nodded with hitched breath. This was _big_. This was _huge_ for someone running for VP. The amount of people that this could alienate was outstanding.

"How did you even get across?" Emily asked, amazed that he was able to pull this off.

"It was a different time back then."

"So, this woman that you've been paying was someone you helped across the border... illegally." Emily concluded. "Who else knows about this?"

"As far as I can remember it was just me, the kids in the car and my aunt but she passed away... I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"It was a long time ago Aaron, I'm sure you never expected it to come up again." Emily said. She wasn't mad. Sure, what he did was illegal, but he was helping those children. How could she be mad about that? "But this stays between you and I Aaron, you can't tell anybody else."

"Ok..." he mumbled.

A short while later, Aaron pulled into their drive way. They looked through the window and saw Lexie waving at them in Rose's arms. They smiled softly and waved back at her, though Emily could see the distant look on his face.

"Aaron" she said softly as she held onto his hand.

"I just... the thought of Lexie being in a position where she couldn't have the future she deserves... I don't regret what I did Emily. Because I would want someone to do the same thing for her." Aaron told her honestly.

"Yeah... I got you with this Aaron. It's going to be fine." Emily assured him

"And I've got you too—no matter what the contents of that envelope say." he said, nodding down to the envelope that was sticking out of her bag.

"I know... but let's not go there tonight. Let's just get inside." She said as he quickly kissed her hand and then got out of the car, ready to spend the evening with their daughter.

* * *

Emily hadn't planned on opening the envelope that night, but she just saw it sitting in her bag in the corner of her bedroom and something compelled her to do it. While Aaron put Lexie to bed, she sat in the middle of theirs and just ripped it open.

She stared at the results for a solid ten minutes before Aaron walked into the room. He was about to unbutton his shirt when he realised what she was doing.

"Em-" he said cautiously as he gulped, his breath catching in his throat.

" _It's negative_." she said in a whisper. "It's negative, I'm fine." she repeated in disbelief. She finally looked up at Aaron who had a small smile on his face.

She was completely overcome with emotion in that moment and she burst in to tears. She stood on the bed and allowed Aaron to pick her up and hold her tightly while she sobbed into his shoulder.

After managing to calm herself down, Emily rang her mom to tell her the news.

"Mom, hi" Emily greeted down the line.

"Hi sweetie. Sorry I'm whispering, your dad is asleep beside me, I don't want to disturb him." Karen explained quietly.

"That's ok. I uh—I got the results back, I'm fine, I don't have it." she said teary eyed.

Karen let out a sigh of relief, "Oh sweetie, that is so wonderful to hear. I was so scared I gave this to you."

"Are you ok? How are you feeling?" Emily asked quickly.

"I'm fine" Karen replied, not wanting to burden Emily when she'd received good news. "You know I hate that question anyway..."

"Well maybe if you trusted me or the boys to talk to your doctors I wouldn't have to ask." Emily had been talking to her brothers every day and Karen was also telling them nothing. At this stage, they didn't even know how much their dad knew either. Karen never wanted to be a burden, she was always trying to put others first even in her hour of need.

"Oh Em. It's not that I don't trust the four of you. It's just—I have other plans." she said cryptically as Emily frowned down the phone. What did that mean? She was about to ask but Karen stopped her. "I should get some rest Emily and so should you. You have a presidential campaign to win." she said with a little laugh. "Give Aaron and Lexie my love."

"I will mom. I love you."

"I love you too Emmie. Goodnight."


	53. The End of the World as She Knows It

**Hi everyone! Thank you for your reviews, they're so lovely to read, I really hope you're enjoying this twist to the show.**

 **Emily's family have been introduced before, so if you wanted a refresher on them, check out the 2nd chapter of _The Minor Leaguer_ as well as:**

 **Chp. 5 'Good to Know'  
Chp. 20 'Astounding Positivity'  
Chp. 21 'Amada Shore- part 1'  
Chp. 22 'Amada Shore- part 2' **

**Emily losses her cool in this chapter... Enjoy!**

* * *

 **The End of the World as She Knows It**

* * *

"Hi dad, what's going on?" Emily greeted her father over the phone as she walked into her office a few weeks later.

"Hi Em, your mother is in the hospital."

Emily froze, " _What?_ What happened?"

"She has a blood clot, they're keeping her here for a few days."

" _Jesus_ , dad, why didn't you call me sooner?!" Emily asked as she started to panic.

"Your mother didn't want to bother you, she knows how stretched thin you are-"

"Dad, stop, that is _not_ an excuse. You promised me you would keep me up to date with everything that was going on, that was the _one_ condition I gave when I went back to DC." Emily frustratingly reminded him.

"I know, I'm sorry." John simply said.

Emily sighed, knowing that the last thing her dad needed was for her to get mad at him. "Ok, Aaron and I are due in Connecticut tomorrow anyway for the debate so we can be there in the morning."

"You don't have to honey-"

"Dad, please, _stop_." Emily said, trying not to lose her temper. "The next time mom tells you that she doesn't want to bother people, remind her that I am not just people, I am her daughter and I should be there. Are the boys there?"

"They've been coming and going, they should be here tomorrow too."

"Ok, good, I'll see you all then, I love you, goodbye." Emily said quickly as she hung up the phone, sat in her chair and put her head in her hands.

Her phone buzzed again and she saw she had a text from Vivienne.

 _Aaron's doing a TV interview, channel 13, you're going to want to see this one..._

Emily sighed and guessed that meant she probably _didn't_ want to see this one, but she _was_ curious as to what Vivienne was talking about. She turned on her TV, sat back and watched as Aaron filled her screen.

"Our next guest is national security adviser and vice-presidential candidate Aaron Shore, as many of you also know as his other title, DC's handsomest politician." the presenter said with a beaming smile down the camera.

"Dear god..." Emily grumbled, as _if_ Aaron's ego needed that title.

Aaron laughed awkwardly, "Thank you for having me, it's my pleasure."

"The first presidential debate is tomorrow night. Have you been helping prep President Kirkman on foreign policy?"

"The president doesn't need mine or anybody else's help when it comes to foreign or domestic affairs." Aaron assured her.

"Well, we certainly look forward to tuning in and we assume you'll be attending with your wife Emily Rhodes?"

"Yes, we'll be there together. Emily is an invaluable member of this administration. Her work on communications within the campaign have benefitted us greatly." Aaron made clear. He knew how much it was bothering Emily to be known as nothing more than Mrs. Aaron Shore, so he wanted to give her credit where it was most certainly due.

"You have been married for a little over a year and half, is that correct?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"But you've known each other since high school."

"Yes, we attending the same school in Washington." Aaron confirmed again, keeping his answers short and sweet as he didn't want things to get too personal.

"What is the secret to maintaining a love that long?" the presenter asked with a little laugh.

Aaron smiled softly, "You find the person that makes you want to be better." he simply said as Emily too smiled softly at his words. "But I'm sure people are much more interested in the vision President Kirkman will put forward tomorrow night." Aaron said, wanting to sway the conversation quickly away from his relationship.

"Of course, but my viewers would kill me if I didn't ask about this rumoured bundle of joy that could be joining you soon. Is Lexie going to be a big sister?"

"We're all focused on the election right now and the President's sensible, centrist agenda." Aaron said, expertly and politely avoiding the line of questioning.

Emily decided she had heard enough and turned the TV off. She put her head back in her hands, completely fed up with this day already. She was quite honestly fed up with everything. She felt like things were crumbling around her and the ground was about to give way. What more could she possibly take?

Her phone buzzed and she saw Aaron's name appear on screen.

"Well hello DC's handsomest politician..." she teased as she heard Aaron groan.

"You saw that?"

"Oh yeah. Good question evading." she told him as she leant back in her chair.

"Well it's no one else's business but ours as to if and when we decide to have more babies." Aaron replied.

"Aw Aaron you know I would repopulate the Earth with you right now if you asked me too" she teased.

"Ha. Ha." he mocked as Emily giggled. She thought it was the most wonderful thing in the world to have a person that could put a smile on her face, even when she felt she had no reason at all to smile. "What's new with you?"

Emily sighed, "I just got off the phone with my dad. Mom's in hospital."

"Is she ok?" Aaron asked quickly as he walked into his office and closed the door.

"I don't know, I think so? Dad basically refused to go into details. She doesn't want to feel like a burden which makes me feel burdened and I just... I feel like a horrible daughter that I'm not there right now and that I get snappy when they don't tell me things, but I'm not there so how was I supposed to know sooner when I found out?"

"Em, take a breath." Aaron told her as she rambled on. "You are not a terrible daughter; you are a _wonderful_ daughter. You have done so much for your mother and she knows that and she appreciates it. You are also an irreplaceable senior staffer on an all-encompassing presidential campaign, your life is being scrutinised by the media and you have a toddler to look after. You're doing the best you can."

Emily nodded down the line, "Yeah, I guess so..." she mumbled. "But no one is irreplaceable."

"You _are_."

"... Please don't make me cry right now."

Aaron chuckled, "I'm sorry, I take it back." he joked. "So I guess it's a good thing we'll be Connecticut tomorrow."

"Yeah, I told her I'd be there in the morning, Vivienne and Warner are taking Lexie tonight so we can go straight to the airport with no fuss." Emily told him.

"Ok, I'll come with you to the hospital-"

"No, you need to be with Kirkman."

"Emily, I think this is a little more important that a stupid debate-"

"No arguments Aaron, I will be fine. My brothers will be there, _I will be fine_." she assured him.

Aaron sighed realising there was no sense arguing on this. "If you change your mind-"

"You will be the first to know. I'll be in the White House a little later today, I'll see you then."

"Ok, I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

The following morning, Aaron and Emily sat solemnly in their car with Lorraine on their way to board Airforce One. Emily had barely said a word all morning. She was so scared to see her mom, especially when she didn't really know what she was walking into.

Lorraine observed Aaron and Emily as they looked out their windows, not saying a thing.

"Ok, have I missed something? Did you two have a big fight or something? Cause we really don't have time for this-" Lorraine warned them.

"Lorraine, give it a rest." Emily snapped.

"You two are America's sweethearts, we need a united front-"

"Leave our personal lives out of this Lorraine, ok?" Aaron asked.

"You don't have a personal life, how are you not getting this?!" Lorraine asked, completely frustrated. "You two need to kiss and make up."

" _We're not fighting!"_ they both shouted as Lorraine raised her eyebrows.

"Then _what_ is the issue?"

They both remained silent, not wanting Lorraine to find a way to spin her mother's illness to their benefit. That would truly be a step too far.

A short while later, they had landed in Connecticut. While Aaron went with the president to the debate, Emily went the opposite direction and to the hospital. She slowly made her way into her mother's room and stood in door while Karen conversed with John and her brothers. They were smiling and laughing about something and it warmed Emily's heart to see. It was like an assurance that everything was going to be ok.

"Hi" she said quietly as they all turned around.

"Emily" John said happily as he walked towards the door and hugged her.

"Hey sis" her brothers greeted as she quickly kissed them all before sitting on the edge of Karen's bed.

"Hi mom."

"Hi Em. I'm so glad to see you." she said with a smile.

"I'm very glad to see you too." Emily said, returning her smile and holding onto her hand. "How are you feeling?"

Karen chuckled, "Better than I look."

Emily took in her mother's appearance. The last time she saw her, she didn't look this frail. She didn't look this tired. She figured this was why she didn't want to talk to her over Facetime anymore. So Emily wouldn't see her like this. Emily gulped as she looked up at her dad and her brothers who were all standing there, sheepishly, with tears in their eyes. For the first time in her life, Emily's older brothers looked _small_ to her. They were always these towering figures in her life, but right now they looked like little lost boys. In that moment, Emily finally understood. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at her hand that was resting in her mother's.

"This isn't just a blood clot... is it?" she asked.

Everyone remained silent except Karen who tried to divert. "Have you eaten?"

"Mom." Emily said as her voice broke. "Will you please just tell me what is going on?"

"The cancer has spread." Karen confirmed quietly as Emily nodded her head and tried to hold it together. "And... I'm stopping chemo."

"No, mom." Emily immediately protested as she finally let her tears fall. "You _can't_ stop."

"The doctor said it was my choice." Karen made clear as Emily nodded her head.

"How long?" Emily asked quietly, not sure she really wanted to know the answer.

"Months maybe. They don't know." Karen told her as Emily wiped her tears with the back of her hand. Karen looked at the four other men in the room, looking at her with pleading eyes before she turned back to Emily. "Emily, I need you to do something for me."

"Mom, stop this." Harry said as Emily turned to look at her brother. "You can't ask her to do this. You can't ask _any_ of us to do this."

Emily frowned, "Ask me to do what?"

"I need you to make me a go-pack."

Emily looked between her brothers and her mother, "A go-pack? What is that?"

"It's a mixture of pills I can take when it's time for me to go." Karen explained.

Emily felt her heart sink to the floor and her whole Earth shatter. This had to be some kind of terrible dream.

"That's what you meant when you had other plans?" Emily said as she stood from the bed and let go of her mother's hand. "You're considering assisted _suicide_?" she said, completely horrified and confused. Emily looked desperately at her brothers. If ever there was a time for them to do their over protective thing, it was right now.

"Your brothers won't do it, your father won't do it." Karen explained as Emily looked at her father who was standing like a ghost in the corner. She had never seen him look so timid.

"There is a goddamn reason for that mom, of course they won't do it, _I_ won't do it, you can't ask me to do that!" Emily exclaimed though her tears as she felt Sam grab her hand and Peter wrap his arm around her waist to steady her.

"It's what I want." Karen pleaded.

Emily lifted her phone out of her pocket and was about to speed dial Aaron to tell him she wasn't coming to the debate. "I'm staying here, we are _all_ staying right here and we are going to _talk_ about this."

" _No_." Karen said firmly as Emily paused before hitting the button. "I need to sleep and you need to go to the debate. Aaron and the President are counting on you."

"No mom, that is the least important thing in the world right now-"

"Emily. I am not going anywhere." Karen said with a little laugh. "Go to the debate and come back tomorrow. I will have a list of what I need you to get."

Emily shook her head and lifted her bag. "I'm not doing it." she said sternly before darting out of the room. John went straight towards Karen and held her hands while Emily's brothers went after her.

"Emily!" Peter called once they'd made it around the corner.

"This is _ridiculous_ Peter, this is _not_ happening!" Emily said firmly.

"We don't want this to happen any more than you do Emily, why do you think we all said no?" Harry reminded her. They were on her side, they didn't need to fight about it.

"I just—I _don't_ understand." Emily said as she shook her head and ran her head through her hair. "How can she ask us to do this for her? I would never in a million years think about asking Lexie to do something like this for me."

Sam shrugged, "I guess she wants to go out on her own terms."

"And how could dad just stand there and say _nothing_?" Emily questioned as she fought her tears yet again. "He was like a ghost in there, completely impassive to the whole thing. He's really just going to stand back and watch while his wife kills herself with the help of her kids? This is just—this isn't who we are! We're a happy, loving family who enjoy life, we don't seek to end it! If we do this for her, it will change _everything_. We will _never_ be the same."

"Em..." Peter said as he reached out a hand to his little sister, which she took as Sam and Harry rested their hands on top. "Something tells me that if she wants to do this, she's going to find a way to do this no matter what. It's just a question of whether we're willing to be there with her when she does."

"There's gotta be another way." Emily said in a whisper as she looked at her brothers with pleading eyes. Emily was a fixer. She hated not being in control and right now, she had never felt more out of place in her life.

"Go to the debate Emily. Take a breather. We'll talk about this tomorrow." Harry told her.

Emily nodded her head as she released her hand from her brothers' hold before turning and walking away. How was she supposed to go to a debate when she was such a mess? She drove around Hartford for what felt like minutes but actually turned into hours in an attempt to compose herself before she turned into the debate centre. By the time she got there, the debate was essentially over.

She took a minute to get herself together, before standing tall and walking into the behind the scenes hall. She didn't realise just how fragile she was though until Lorraine made a passive aggressive comment.

"Oh nice of you to show up when the debate is almost over Mrs. VP..." Lorraine said as she typed away on her phone.

Emily slammed her bag down on the table, "Lorraine, I know you can't seem to get your head around this but I am not Mrs. VP and I have a life outside of your demands so _fuck you!_ " she exclaimed as Aaron looked at her with wide eyes, not expecting that at all.

"Geez, Em..." he said as Emily grabbed onto his arm.

"I need you, right now." she demanded before dragging him out of the room, leaving a ton of Kirkman staff workers stunned.

Emily dragged Aaron up to their hotel room and swiftly pulled him into it.

"Emily what is going-" Aaron began, but Emily cut him off with a searing kiss that he quickly deepened. Emily's hands roamed through his perfectly set hair while Aaron's found their way down to her ass.

Aaron broke away from the kiss briefly as Emily kissed down his neck and took his jacket and tie off.

"Em, wow, wow, hold on-"

"I need you. _Now._ " she said sternly as Aaron looked at his watch. The debate was in its closing remarks and Kirkman was expecting to see them at the end.

"Right now?" he questioned as Emily made quick work of his shirt while she kicked off her heels.

"Do you seriously have a problem with that?"

Aaron gulped; "... no ma'am." he said as he swiftly lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom.

Right now, it felt like the world was ending. In a way, a part of her world _was_ ending and she just wanted to be with the person she loved most in this world. She wanted to feel safe and secure and that was all that mattered.

* * *

Aaron and Emily lay side by side on their stomachs. While Aaron drew lazy patterns with his fingers on Emily's exposed back, she looked out of the window and away from him. Kirkman had come out on top during the debate and it was a moment to celebrate, but that was the last thing Emily wanted to do right now and when Emily was like this, Aaron couldn't help but feel the same.

"Emily..." he said quietly, wanting to get to the bottom of all of this. "What happened tonight?" He knew something must have happened at the hospital to make her lose it with Lorraine and drag him up here.

Emily gulped. "I'm sorry you missed the end of the debate." she simply replied. Truth was, she just couldn't say it out loud. She couldn't say that her mother was dying because then it would make it more real, but she knew she had to.

"I don't care about the stupid debate, _you_ are the only thing that matters right now." he said as he propped his head up on his elbow.

Emily finally turned her head around and Aaron watched as a stray tear fell from her eye. He didn't think he had ever seen her like this before. In all the years he had known her, he had never seen her so _broken_. He moved some hair behind her ear, giving her the time and silence to say what she needed to say.

"My mom's dying Aaron." Emily said in a whisper. "Her cancer has spread and she's stopped the chemo."

"Emily..."

"That's not all... she asked my brothers and they said no, she asked my dad and he said no and now she's asked me... to help her end her life." she said before scoffing. "And now I can only speak in euphemisms. My mom has asked me to help her kill herself."

Aaron felt his own eyes fill with tears as she watched Emily close eyes in an attempt to fight hers. He leant forward and rested his hand on her neck while he kissed her cheek and her forehead before resting his head against hers.

"How am I supposed to do that for her Aaron?" Emily asked quietly. "I just—I feel so _lost._ I feel like my whole world is crumbling around me. How could I do that for her and not compromise every part of who I am?"

Aaron didn't know what to say. He had no idea what was the right thing to do. He could never have anticipated this. Karen Rhodes was one of the most bubbly, spirited people he knew and it would never have crossed his mind that this would be how she wanted to go.

"I feel like everything I know about my mom is a _lie_." Emily confessed as her voice started to crack and she let out a few uncontrollable sobs.

"Hey, no, that's not true." Aaron quickly said. "Your mom is still your mom. She is still the life and soul of every room she is in. She is still the same curious, chatty, boisterous woman who raised you and that is _never_ going to change I can promise you that."

Emily turned her body onto its side with her back snuggly against Aaron's chest, allowing him to wrap his arm tightly around her. She held onto his arm as if her life depended on it as he kissed her head and felt a tear of his own escape his eye.

"Just sleep Em." he said quietly to her as Emily slowly nodded her head and drifted off to sleep. This day had completely exhausted her and she knew the days following would be no different.

* * *

The following morning, Aaron and Emily walked into Karen's hospital room to find her asleep with John in the chair beside her.

"Hi dad" Emily greeted as John stood up and hugged his daughter.

"Hi sweetie." he said quietly. "Aaron" he said as he shook his son-in-law's hand.

Seconds later, Karen stirred and smiled softly when she saw Emily and Aaron standing at the bottom of her bed.

"Oh hi sweeties." she said groggily, but happily.

"Hi Karen." Aaron greeted as Emily went and sat on the side of her bed.

"President Kirkman did so well last night, I'm sure you two had a lot to do with that." Karen complimented them with a knowing smirk. She was so proud of everything both of them had been doing at the White House.

"We may have prepped him a little..." Emily told her with a little laugh. Karen smiled knowingly as she held onto Emily's hand. "Where are the boys?" Emily asked, hoping to see her brothers here.

"Well I hope they're at work because that's where they told me they would be." Karen joked. Her sense of humour hadn't disappeared yet and Emily prayed that it never would.

Karen's face fell slightly as she saw the sadness in Emily's eyes. She looked at Aaron briefly who gave her a light nod that let her know that he knew what she had asked Emily to do.

"Emily, I know this is hard on you, but it is what I want."

"Then let's make a deal." Emily said as Karen looked at her with hopeful eyes. "You and dad come and stay with us in DC. If we're going to do this then we do it together. All of us."

Karen nodded, "We'll think about it." She didn't want to make Emily any promises. Connecticut was her home after all, but there was something about being with her daughter through this that Karen found soothing.

* * *

After talking with John and Karen for about an hour, Aaron and Emily made their way to the airport to jet back home on Airforce One. Aaron pulled his car onto the runway and stopped it. Before he got out he looked over at Emily who appeared to be in a nervous daze.

"Do you really want to do this Emily?"

Emily shook her head. "I am going to exhaust every possible option before I even considering helping her end her life. I can't let it just end without a fight, it's not fair."

"I know this is all overwhelming. So if you need to stop, please just say stop and I will drop everything and come running." he told her seriously.

Emily gave him a small smile, "I know you would. Let's get home to our girl."

Aaron nodded his head as they got out of the car and boarded the plane, not sure where the next few months would take them.

* * *

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	54. Confronting the Truth

**Confronting the Truth**

* * *

A few days later, Emily walked into Aaron's office at the White House after Lorraine asked to meet them there. Aaron was due to fly out to Texas to meet with a little boy and his family who came from Mexico illegally for a kidney transplant. The Moss administration was raving about immigrants taking 'American kidneys' and the Kirkman administration decided that Aaron should go down there to show his concern and buy the administration time before they decided what to do.

"Hey... where's Lorraine?" Emily asked as she stood opposite Aaron.

"Lorraine is here." Lorraine announced as she walked in and closed the door. "Now, let's make this quick, Aaron has to go and see a dying boy. About your little blow up at the debate-" Lorraine began.

Emily held up her hand, "I would actually like to apologise for that, I shouldn't have lost my temper-"

"You're right, you shouldn't have, but I'm willing to let it slide because we _really_ need this darling duo to work. Do you have any idea the microscope you are under? If somebody outside of that room had have heard your outburst, the headlines would have twisted it drastically into making you a villain." Lorraine told Emily seriously. In all honesty, being Aaron's darling and doting wife was the last thing on Emily's mind right about now. "As long as widow Kirkman is not ready to date, this Emron romance is all I've got. It is a very valuable commodity that I need to protect!"

Emily sighed, "I know."

"Women love you Emily and they like you Aaron but they will turn on you like a week-old fish if they think you're not treating your wife right. They will blame you for her anger, and they will point to your ex-girlfriend that everyone now knows is running around the White House and blame your relationship with her too." Lorraine reminded them. There had been a few tabloid headlines twisting Isabel's presence in the White House into something it wasn't. Rumours of affairs, rivalries and mad up stories about their past constantly arrived in Emily and Aaron's inboxes every day, but they tried to ignore them. What good was fueling this fire?

"So, do we all have an understanding?" Lorraine asked with a fake smile. "Fantastic, now, go forth and show the world your love." she said before darting out of the room.

"I sincerely dislike that woman." Emily said as she ran a hand over her head.

"Yeah..." Aaron grumbled as he put stuff in his brief case. "Do you know why I'm going to Texas? Cause I don't know why I'm going to Texas." He knew it was some sort of crisis management but what was it exactly that they expected him to do?

"I'll get Lorraine to e-mail you some talking points." Emily offered. "It's not a bad idea sending you there Aaron."

"It's just a stupid photo op Emily, I can't say I'm a fan of using this little boy like that."

"I get that... but at the end of the day, he's just a little boy who needs our help. Try and focus on that." Emily encouraged.

"Yeah... what are you doing today?"

"I am going to Bethesda. I think I found a clinic trial that my mom qualifies for." Emily told him with a hopeful smile.

"Em, that's great. Have you told her?" Aaron said, matching her enthusiasm.

"No, I don't want to get her hopes up until I'm sure, but I have to go." Emily said as she walked towards the door.

"Hey, I can stay if you need me to come with you?" he offered.

Emily smiled and shook her head. "I'll be fine. I love you"

"I love you too" he said as she opened the door and left.

* * *

That evening, Emily walked into Lorraine's office to discuss the latest developments on Matteo. It appeared that whatever Aaron had been doing, support for the little boy was growing steadily. In other news, Emily's meeting with the head of this clinical trial went well and she had managed to convince her parents to fly out to DC and stay with her and Aaron and maybe discuss some other options for treatment.

"Do me a favour Rhodes and give me so some good news." Lorraine snapped as she crossed her arms.

"Ok, well, the latest polling stats indicate a groundswell of support for Matteo." Emily told her as she showed her the results on the tablet.

"How's he doing in the states we care about?"

"Gangbusters in the rust belt and it's growing in Texas." Emily said happily.

"Holy _cow,_ the kid is a _godsend_. When is his surgery?" Lorraine said, not expecting this outcome at all.

"Tomorrow morning and people are invested. I think Aaron should do another press conference."

"In really tight scrubs I'm hoping." Lorraine said as she looked to the sky and did a little clap while Emily rolled her eyes. "You stay here tonight and monitor things."

Emily sighed, "I have a child I would very much like to get home to Lorraine and my parents are flying in tonight to stay with me."

"Well, I'm not a _monster_ so why don't you go and let your parents in, kiss your kid goodnight and then get your ass back here?" Lorraine told her as Emily sighed and said ok. She completely ignored Lorraine's request anyway. Her parents' flight had been cancelled so they wouldn't be getting in until the morning, but she just wanted to spend some time with her daughter, so she went home and did just that.

* * *

Emily played on the living room floor with Lexie the following morning as she waited for her parents to arrive. She had rearranged the furniture in the sitting room and had a hospital bed put in her Karen, since she was unable to climb the stairs. Emily watched as Lexie darted about the living room on her feet. Thankfully, her walking phobia had come to an end after about a month and now she was racing around the house like crazy. Aaron had put baby gates in all over the house—but she was an expert at climbing over them—so they had to watch her like a hawk.

The doorbell soon rang and Emily scooped Lexie up and walked to the door.

"Hi mom" she greeted as the door opened and Lexie clapped her hands at the sight of her grandparents.

"Hi babies" Karen said as she kissed both of them.

"How are you?" Emily asked as they came into the house.

Karen let out a little laugh, "I never did fly well."

"She needs to lie down. Hi sweetie." John said as he kissed Emily.

"Hi dad. I got your bed put into the sitting room. I figured that was the best room since it has a little bit of privacy." Emily told her. The rest of the house was open planned after all.

"Oh, that's ok sweetie. I'm sure you'll want your privacy too. I won't be a bother." Karen said as John helped her into the sitting room and onto the bed.

Emily sighed, "Mom, you are never a bother." she said as she shifted Lexie to her other hip. "Oh, I have some great news-"

"Is it about that little boy Aaron is with in Texas?" Karen asked eagerly. "I have been following it on the news and Emily he is going great out there, I really hope this all works out."

"Uh, no it's not about Matteo, I met with someone at the NIH and you've been accepted into a trial therapy. It's the most promising thing out there for a cure." Emily said hopefully.

Karen scoffed, "I'm too tired to think about that right now Em." Emily frowned and nodded her head. She wondered if her mother would ever be well enough to talk about it. "We can talk when you get home from work."

Emily shook her head, "I'm not going to go to work today."

"No, Emily, go" Karen insisted. "Your father and I will be fine right here, in fact, John can look after Lexie too. I'll just be asleep all day anyway."

"Mom-"

"She's right hon, I can look after Lexie." John assured her.

"Oh, and if you're talking to President Kirkman, tell him not to worry, I voted by mail before we left." Karen said with a wink as Emily let out a laugh. "John, take Lexie from Emily so she can go."

John took his granddaughter from Emily as she smiled gratefully. She looked at her mother one last time, struggling to see her in so much discomfort, before leaving the room to get ready for the day.

* * *

Emily made it to the office a short time later and was about to get started on her work when her phone rang and Aaron's name popped up on the screen, immediately calming her. She hadn't even spoken to him let and she just felt so much relief wash through her.

"Hi" she greeted quietly.

"Hi" he replied just as quietly, knowing that this morning had probably been a rough one for her. "Did your parents get in ok?"

"Yeah, they got in this morning. Dad is going to look after Lexie for the day. I tried to stay home but they really did not want me to stay..."

"It's probably good to keep busy anyway. Did she say anything about the trial?"

"No, just that we would talk about it later." Emily replied. She knew deep down that Karen was going to say no, but she just couldn't say it out loud. "How is Matteo? Is he out of surgery yet?"

"In about an hour and a half or so. I'm pacing like it's Lexie in there or something." Aaron said with a sigh. This whole thing had really gotten to him and right now he would do anything to protect Matteo.

Emily chuckled, "the little guy got to you huh?"

"Yeah it appears so... maybe I'm just feeling a little broody..." he said cautiously, wanting to test the waters.

Emily raised an eyebrow, "Broody? _Really_?"

"Yeah... Lexie's just growing so fast, I miss having a little baby in the house. Plus, imagine how fun she would be as a big sister." Aaron reasoned.

"Not to mention we make insanely cute babies..." Emily added.

"That is very true, like little cherubs." Aaron joked.

"Well, that is a conversation we can definitely have when you get back." Emily told him.

"Alright..." he said hopefully. "Hey, do you know if there are any provisions in the HHS code that cover after-care for transplant patients?"

"No, but I can do a quick search..." Emily said as she opened her laptop and looked it up. "It says here is only addresses procurement and allocation."

"The doctor told me that Matteo's anti-rejection drugs will run him about 17 grand a year."

Emily's eyes widened. "Damn..."

"If Matteo lives for around 70 years, that's over a million dollars. That's freaking _outrageous_." Aaron said, completely frustrated by the system.

"Yeah, but if you put it into perspective it's not that much. Think about how much money is spent on election campaigns. $2 billion this cycle? _That_ is freaking outrageous."

Aaron paused for a second. What if he could find a way to turn election funds into funds for Matteo? "Em, you just gave me an idea, I gotta go, I'll call you later, love you."

"I- I love you too" Emily said quickly, entirely confused by what just went down.

* * *

Aaron soon addressed the press and set up a text fund for Matteo, encouraging people to donate $10 to him instead of the campaign. Emily watched the TV proudly as he did so, but it wasn't going to solve the final problem they were facing—should they deport Matteo and his family? Aaron was in favour of them staying, but naturally most people were against him. They felt they couldn't send a message that crossing the border illegally and successfully gaining medical assistance was a path to permanent residency.

He went home with Emily that night a little disheartened by the whole thing. They walked through the front door and stood in the sitting room doorway to greet Karen andJohn.

"Hi Karen, John" he said.

Karen smiled, "Oh Aaron, you're back. I saw you on the news earlier, you were _wonderful_. It's a great thing you did for that little boy."

Aaron gave her a small smile, "It was the only thing to do in this situation... how are you feeling?"

"I'm getting by" she said with a little wink.

"Was Lexie ok?" Emily asked her dad.

"She was an angel as usual." John assured her. "Took her a while to go to sleep though."

Emily chuckled, "Yeah, the only person who can quickly get her down is Aaron, he's the Lexie whisperer."

"It's a gift..." Aaron joked as they all smiled. "I'm going to go check the news." he said as he took his coat off, wanting to see what Kirkman had decided to do. As Aaron left the room, Emily took her coat off and sat in the chair beside Karen's bed.

"Why don't we put on that awful reality TV show you like?" Emily asked as she reached for the remote.

Karen sighed as she turned on her side to face Emily, "I'm not really in the mood." she said as Emily nodded and set the remote down. "John, would you grab my sweater for me? I think I left it in the kitchen."

"Sure hon" John replied as he got up and left the room.

"So, we have an appointment with the NIH tomorrow." Emily said with a hopeful smile. She wasn't prepared to let this one go just yet. "We need to get you started on the protocol as soon as possible."

Karen shook her head and looked at her hands, "I don't think so honey, tell them to give my spot to someone else."

Emily frowned, "What? What are you talking about?"

"I can't go through anymore treatment." Karen told her with a gulp.

"Yes, you can, mom. The alternative is... _death_." Emily said, struggling to get the words out.

Karen grabbed Emily's hand, "I'm stage four Emily. I've made my peace with that."

"Mom... you came here so I could look after you, let me look after you." Emily pleaded.

"Honey, I didn't come here so you could take care of me. I came here because assisted suicide is legal in DC."

Emily sat back in her chair, almost in disbelief that this is still what she wanted. She was hurt that her mother came here under entirely false pretenses too. Emily turned her head to look at her father when she saw him standing in the door.

"You're ok with this? _Really?_ You're going to watch as she _kills herself_?" Emily asked through her teeth. She was so beyond frustrated that her father had been so silent throughout this process.

John gulped. "No, Emily, I'm not ok with this. But this is not my decision to make. She has made up her mind."

Emily was about to protest further when she heard something smash in the living room and Lexie's cries started bellowing from upstairs. She sighed and quickly rushed into the living to see the TV remote smashed by the wall, and Aaron standing in the middle of the room— _fuming_.

"Aaron, what the hell?!" she exclaimed.

"POTUS is deporting Matteo." Aaron told her with a clenched jaw as Emily closed her eyes and sighed. She jumped slightly when Lexie's cries got louder through the monitor, she was about to walk out the door to get her when Aaron stopped her.

"I'll get her" he said, feeling guilty that he has woken her up in his anger. He swiftly walked up the stairs as Emily just stood there, almost afraid to move. Could _nothing_ go right for them?

* * *

A few days later, Aaron stood in the kitchen, cutting up some strawberries for Lexie to have with her baby pancakes for breakfast. He set the bowl down in front of her as she happily kicked her feet against her high chair at the sight of her food. Lexie's vocabulary had been expanding recently as she took in the world around her. She was constantly babbling 'mama' and 'dada' and 'baba' in the mornings. She could recognise her grandparents as 'gan gan' and 'papa'. She also loved her 'anana' snack and to play with her 'ball with ennie' (Lenny) in the garden and she especially loved the word 'no'- even when she didn't really mean it.

"What do we say Lex?"

"Ta ta!" she replied as she clapped her hands together and Aaron smiled.

"Good job mija." he said as he turned his attention to his coffee machine. "Hey Em?" Aaron called through the house as she came down the stairs, "Do you want some coffee?"

"No, I'm going to have some tea... are my parents awake?" she asked as she set her bag on the counter.

"No not yet" he replied as both their phone buzzed. As they read the messages, their faces fell a thousand miles and they both looked at each other.

" _... shit_." Emily grumbled.

"Hit!" they suddenly heard from Lexie's high chair as they looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Thank god she can't say her s sounds yet." Aaron said as he ran a hand over his face, wondering how the hell they were going to fix this one.

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Kirkman exclaimed as he stood with his senior staff in the oval office.

"Sir, I was a teenager, I did what my aunt asked-"

"I'm not talking about then, I'm talking about _now_ , you know better why did you keep this to yourself!" Kirkman shouted further as he paced in front of his desk.

Emily sighed, "He told me. He told me and I told him to keep it to himself." she confessed.

Tom glared at Emily in disbelief. "You told him _what_?"

"Sir, don't blame Emily, this is on me, I made the call." Aaron insisted, not wanting to land Emily in it for simply trying to protect him.

"You don't get to make the call on a subject like that." Mars warned him.

"We also have a problem with mixed messages. The President just deported a family for entering the country illegally and you've become the poster boy for open borders." Lorraine added.

"Sir, I should resign from the ticket." Aaron insisted as Emily felt her heart sink. She couldn't believe he was going to have to give this up over something his aunt asked him to do as a teenager.

"We'll see how the speech goes." Tom said as he sat at his desk.

"What speech?"

"We've advised that you'll be making an address at 9pm from the East Room. It'll preempt local news on the West Coast, all the cables will carry it live." Seth explained.

"It's meant to give you the opportunity to deliver a convincing mea culpa to the country." Mars explained. Aaron looked at his feet, not sure he was particularly prepared to take the blame and apologise for something he wasn't even remotely sorry for. The only thing he was sorry about was that it was affecting Kirkman's campaign. "So this unrepentant thing you've got going on? You better smooth it over with contrition ASAP."

"Emily" Tom said, as Emily looked up, "I need you to write two statements, one if Aaron stays on the ticket and one if he goes."

Emily frowned, "Don't you think it's a little inappropriate for me to be the one to do that?"

Lorraine rolled her eyes, "You wanted to treated like more than Mrs. VP and now you don't? Make up your mind Rhodes."

Emily clenched her jaw and folded her arms, "Fine, I'll do it."

"And you can also draft your own resignation letter while you're at it, I'll let you know if I need it later. That'll be all." Tom said as everyone swiftly left the room.

* * *

While Kirkman and Aaron dealt with a sudden national security issue, Emily sat in Lenny's office trying to draft the statements. It seemed like some sort of sick joke that she was sitting here potentially signing her and her husband's jobs away. As she tapped her pen against the desk, Lenny walked in with two cups of coffee.

"Hey, figured you might need this." Lenny said as she set the cup down in front of her.

"Thanks... I can go if you need your desk back."

Lenny shook her head, "No, no it's fine. I'm looking forward to visiting you in Hatch Act jail." she said with a grimace as Emily groaned. "Do you have any idea what's going on in the Sit Room? Seems there's a bit of commotion."

"No, I have no idea, I have been cooped up in here trying to find a way to eloquently end my own husband's career as well as my own." Emily said with a sarcastic smile. "It is honestly some kind of sick _joke_..."

"He's not going to fire you." Lenny insisted. There was no way. Kirkman valued her way too much.

"Are you sure? Because I would fire me. I was so hell bent on protecting him that I didn't see the bigger picture. I should have known it would somehow be leaked; nothing can stay hidden forever." Emily said with a deep sigh. "I guess I should have known better than to think my life couldn't get any _shittier_ than it already is."

"How is your mom doing?" Lenny asked quietly. She could only imagine how Emily was feeling right now. She was surprised she hadn't completely exploded, but at the same time, no one was calmer and more collected than Emily Rhodes. She always dealt with her problems head on and rarely let them get to her head, but even Lenny could see that her walls were starting to crumble. She walked around with less determination in her step and there was just so much pain in her eyes.

"She still wants me to help her kill herself." Emily told her as Lenny looked at her sadly. "My brothers are coming into town next week to try and help us come up with a better resolution but... something tells me she's going to find a way to do this with or without us."

"What do you want to do?" Lenny asked.

Emily scoffed, "I have no idea. This is going to change my life forever no matter if I'm there for her or not."

"I really wish there was something I could say or do Em, but I am really at a loss." Lenny replied honestly.

Emily gave her a soft smile, "It's ok Len. You being here is enough."

Lorraine appeared at the door and Lenny looked at her with wide eyes. "I'll leave you two to talk..." she said before quickly escaping past Lorraine.

Emily sighed, "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

Lorraine scoffed, "I'm not the one you owe the apology to. I'd start with Kirkman then maybe your husband, you could be the reason his career is about to go caput."

"Helpful. Thank you." Emily told her sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. Her phone buzzed and she saw her dad's name appear on screen. "Excuse me... dad? Well, can you make her eat?" she said down the line as Lorraine listened on cautiously. She knew Emily's mom was pretty sick, but it was something no one dared mention. "Ok, ok, I'll be home as soon as I can."

"You know, I'm only going to say this once..." Lorraine began as Emily hung up the phone. "And if I'm asked about it under oath I will probably deny, but sometimes... family takes priority. This sounds like one of those times. Take it from the lady who's in the home stretch of her 3rd divorce."

Emily looked at Lorraine entirely surprised by her momentary compassion. "I have to finish these statements-"

"I'll finish those up, I need something to do and, in all honesty, it is a little cruel having _you_ be the one writing the statement that ends Aaron's career."

Emily nodded her head and swiftly gathered her things and left the room, remembering she needed to thank Lorraine later.

* * *

When Emily got home, she was surprised to find her mother in good spirits. Her dad told her he had just given her the pain meds so she should be good for about another 4 hours. Emily did frown when she saw him packing away the lunch he had prepared for her that had clearly gone uneaten.

"It's a sign you know." John told her as he put the Tupperware in the fridge.

"A sign of what?"

"When patients at your mother's stage stop eating, it's their way of saying they're ready to go." John told her with tears in his eyes.

Emily shook her head, "No, she's not going anywhere yet."

"Emily." John said firmly as he grabbed his daughter's hand. "Your mother has been the biggest part of my life since I was 19 years old. We've been through so much together. I have shared the joy and the anger and the tears of my life with her and to not have that anymore... I can't bear the thought of it." he told her as tears started rolling down Emily's face. "But I also love her enough to respect what she wants. I love her enough to let her go on her own terms. Maybe you and your brothers can't understand that but this is her life and she is the only one who can control it. Not me, not Peter, not Harry, not Sam, not you."

"So, the boys coming here is a complete waste of time. We're not going to be able to convince her." Emily concluded.

John shook his head, "No, you're not... but you are all going to be able to say goodbye. And that counts for a _hell_ of a lot."

* * *

That night, Emily stood in the kitchen loading up the dishwasher while John and Karen sat in the sitting room watching cartoons with Lexie. After managing to convince her mom to eat some soup, Emily also convinced her to hold on for a little while longer. She knew Karen was ready to go, but Emily wasn't ready to see it. She just couldn't do it right now.

As she closed the dishwasher door, her phone buzzed and she saw Aaron's name.

"Hi" she greeted.

"Hi. I'm sorry I'm only calling you now, Lorraine told me you went home at lunch time?" he questioned.

"Yeah, dad called. Mom refused to eat anything and he was having a hard time with it." Emily explained as she went into the living room and sat on the sofa.

"Did you get her to eat?"

"She had some soup for dinner... but only because I told her I wasn't ready for her to go." Emily said as Aaron remained silent. "I think it's time I came to terms with this Aaron. My mom is dying and she is going to go on her own terms and I can't change that."

Aaron sighed, "I am so sorry Emily. As soon as this speech is over, I'll be right home and we can talk about this. We can talk about what we're going to do and how we're going to get you through this."

Emily nodded down the phone as she bit her lip. She hated what this campaign was doing to their relationship. Whenever they seemed to need each other, they just couldn't be there. They fell asleep and woke up together every day, but for some reason Emily still _missed_ him. She prayed that when he became VP it wouldn't be like this.

"How's your speech coming?" Emily asked, knowing that if she said another word about her mother she would burst into tears and she wanted Aaron to be there to hold her when she did.

"It's all this fake outrage when the real story should be about what we did today. The work that nobody knows about, protecting this country." Aaron said, referring to the issue of national security they dealt with today.

"Forget about what they're expecting Aaron. Forget about what Kirkman or Lorraine want to hear. Say what _you_ need to say." Emily encouraged. She couldn't encourage Aaron to get up there and lie. Not when his principles wouldn't let him.

"I don't know what that is Em. The thing that kills me about this, is that I want it... I want VP and not just for me but for what it means. The first Latino vice president. That _means_ something... but how do I express it?"

"Speak your truth. Be honest." Emily told him. "I'm really sorry I can't be there right now-"

"Emily, no-" he began to protest. In no way did he expect her to be here right now.

"But I will be right here waiting for you to come home. I will always be right here, no matter what happens."

"I love you so much." Aaron said as his voice broke slightly. "More than I can ever tell you. And we will be ok Emily. I promise you, _you_ will be ok."

* * *

Aaron did exactly what Emily told him to do. He told his truth. He told the truth of his mother and her family and how they came here for a better life. One that proved difficult to achieve yet so heartedly deserved. How his mother fought for him to have a good life. He was a proud Mexican American and it was time he owned it.

Emily had watched the speech with immense pride. He was honest and he spoke from the heart and he showed why he should be the next VP. She carefully tucked her mother in that night just as she heard the front door open and close. She walked into the hallway and saw a disheveled looking Aaron standing there.

"Hey" she greeted with a small smile as she walked forward and hugged him tightly. "You were amazing tonight. Really amazing, I am so proud of you. Come on, let's get you a celebratory drink." she said as she released him from her hold and pulled his hand.

Aaron shook his head, "I don't really feel like celebrating tonight."

Emily stopped walking and gulped. "Aaron, I know things are pretty shitty right now... but we have to take these moments and we have to enjoy them. I know you think that was a pony show up there, but you spoke your truth and there is nothing wrong with that. Our crap will still be there tomorrow, so for now, I would like to sit down with my husband, have a drink and watch some trashy TV."

All Emily wanted was to have a moment of normality. A moment to enjoy the good in their lives. It was the least they deserved. Aaron nodded his head at her request as she pulled his hand again and walked into the kitchen, happy he was here to make her feel whole again.

* * *

 **Don't forget to review!**


	55. End of the Road

**Things get emotional in this chapter. Get some tissues ready.**

* * *

 **End of the Road**

* * *

It was only a few days before the election and things around the White House were tense. People were scrambling, not knowing how this would end and afraid they would be losing their jobs. It was difficult trying to prepare for what comes next at this stage.

Emily woke up that Thursday morning and came downstairs with Lexie to see her father had left a note for her in the kitchen to say he had taken Karen out for an early morning drive. She was glad her mother was taking some time away from the house, but she knew it was only so she could see things for the last time.

Emily put Lexie down on the floor and she immediately started scampering around the kitchen, her tight brunette curls bouncing along with her. Emily turned the radio on before she went to the fridge to get some breakfast for Lexie. She lifted some fruit out and when she turned back around, she saw Lexie with a huge smile on her face, dancing along the music playing on the radio. She had her bum stuck out and was bouncing up and down and waving her hands in the air.

Emily froze for a second before a huge smile fell on her face and she started laughing. She walked a few steps towards Lexie and started dancing around the kitchen with her, causing the little girl to burst into fits of giggles.

A few moments later, Aaron came downstairs, wondering what all the commotion was about. Lexie and Emily's laughs had radiated through the whole house and it was like music to his ears. He stood in the doorway of the kitchen and just watched as his two favourite girls moved around the kitchen together. It had been a long time since he'd seen Emily so care free and happy and he wished this moment could last forever. They were both radiant as the sun streamed through the kitchen windows and onto them.

He watched as Emily picked Lexie up and held her close as Lexie rested her head on Emily's shoulder, gently swaying to the closing bars of the music with their eyes closed. When the music stopped, Emily turned around and realised Aaron had been standing watching them. She smiled softly at him.

"I forgot how good it felt to just dance it out." She told him as he returned her smile.

It was little moments like this that reminded Emily of the good in her life. The little moments that reminded her she had a lot to be thankful for and that amidst the bad, they would all be ok.

* * *

"Emily!" Lorraine shouted through her office as Emily rolled her eyes and walked in the door.

"You _bellowed_?"

"You're going on the campaign trail through Florida with Aaron, right?" Lorraine asked. "You've been slacking a little on that front, we need to keep up appearances."

"Yes, I will be there..." Emily told her. She knew she hadn't been doing many public appearances with Aaron recently, but she just didn't have the time. She figured one last appearance in a swing state could help.

"Fantastic! People are going to be all over a public Emron love fest." Lorraine said as she lightly clapped her hands. "Also, did you ever give thought to what you would do after the election is over?"

"Well, that all depends on whether I'll be taking on second lady of the United States. I guess then I'll be the dutiful wife and look after my daughter and holding dinner parties..." Emily said with a sharp sense of disdain in her voice. She knew the position offered the opportunity to do some worthwhile work, but she also felt like it could restrict her when she wanted to be in the nitty gritty political side.

Lorraine laughed, "something tells me you were not built for that life. I think like me, you get off on winning. You should consider staying in the game. There's an interesting special senatorial election coming up in Virginia. You should think about it."

"Noted..." Emily said as she left Lorraine's office just as Lenny and Vivienne walked through the halls. Emily smiled widely, "What are you two doing here?" she asked as she hugged her friends.

"We figured you could use a spot of lunch." Vivienne said as she held up some brown paper bags.

"Well in that case, step into my office" Emily joked as they went in and sat on the sofas.

"So, what's new with the wicked _bitch_ of the west today?" Lenny asked as they got their food out. Lorraine had rubbed Lenny and many others up the wrong way since her arrival in Washington and she knew all too well about how she had been torturing Emily.

"She just asked me about my future." Emily told them with a sigh.

"What did you tell her?" Vivienne asked.

"Between taking care of my mom and this campaign I haven't even thought about what comes next which is so unlike me because I am a planner and all I can ever think about is the future but- I am at a _total_ loss." she replied honestly.

"Well you could be the next second lady." Lenny reminded her. "Though, if I'm entirely honest Em, while I think you would be wonderful at it, you're not really the behind the scenes doting wife. You're a firecracker who has fought her way onto the big boy's table and deserves to stay there."

"And you tried the whole do nothing thing when you resigned as Chief of Staff and you winded up right back here so the unemployed, stay at home mom thing isn't going to cut it either." Vivienne added.

"Everything is just so up in the air at the minute. Aaron and I could both be out of jobs in a matter of weeks, what the hell are we going to do then?" Emily added.

"You guys have established yourselves pretty well around here. Something tells me you won't be jobless for long..."

Emily sighed, "God, I hope so."

Emily opened the packaging of her favourite sandwich and immediately turned her nose up at the smell that radiated from it. "God, my stomach has been in knots for the past two weeks I've barely ate a thing."

Lenny and Vivienne raised an eyebrow and briefly looked at each other. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, I've just been really under pressure with work and mom, it's making me queasy." Emily said as she stood up and walked towards her desk. "I think I have some saltines in here... what?" she asked when she saw Lenny and Vivienne sitting completely still and staring right at her.

"Nothing." Lenny said as she popped a fry in her mouth. "It's just the last time I remember food making you queasy was that time Seth brought you a falafel and you threw up in your trash can."

Emily raised an eyebrow, realising what Lenny was getting at. "Lenny, you can't be serious."

"Oh, come on Em, it's not that much of a stretch." Vivienne piped in. "You said yourself that you and Aaron were thinking about having another baby and you haven't exactly been careful with protection because of it..."

"Now is really not the time for me to be pregnant." Emily said sternly.

"Just because you think the timing is off doesn't mean there's a possibility you couldn't be." Lenny reminded her. "Just take a test, what's the worst that could happen?" she said with a shrug.

Emily flopped back onto the sofa with a sigh. _Why_ did her timing have the be so bad?

* * *

The following morning, Emily rushed around the house trying to get herself ready for the trip to Florida. Her brothers were due in town tonight and she had promised them she would be back tomorrow morning to talk to them about what was going on with Karen.

Aaron came into the kitchen looking annoyingly calm compared to Emily's chaotic scrambling.

"Ok, I'm going to go upstairs and get Lexie dressed and pack her things to take to Vivienne and Warner's." Emily told Aaron as he nodded. "You... you look ready, you do whatever."

"Emily, take a breath, please." Aaron told her.

Emily stopped and took a deep breath, "Happy?"

"Ecstatic."

She playfully glared at him before escaping upstairs to get Lexie up and ready to go. As Aaron got his coffee, John walked into the kitchen looking completely defeated.

"Everything alright?" Aaron asked.

"Karen is refusing to take her pain meds." John explained solemnly.

Aaron frowned, "Why?"

"I- I don't know, where is Emily? Maybe she can convince her-" John said as he turned to go and find her.

Aaron stopped him, "Wait, why don't I try?" he suggested. Emily was frantic enough as it was, so he wanted to relieve her stress in whatever way he could.

John nodded his head as Aaron moved past him and into the sitting room.

"Hi Karen" Aaron said as he sat on the armchair beside her bed.

"Oh, hi honey, aren't you supposed to be on your way to Florida?" Karen asked.

"We have a little time before we need to go." Aaron explained as he sat back in the chair. "John was saying you don't want to take your pain meds."

Karen rolled her eyes, "You know what a fog that medication puts me in Aaron."

"Yeah, but it's a painless fog." he reminded her.

"I want to be clear headed when my boys get here and when Emily comes home tomorrow morning so we can talk." Karen said.

Aaron nodded his head once, knowing exactly what Karen was saying. "You know, I think we'll just stay here, we don't need to go to Florida-"

"Oh Aaron you have to be joking, you are _going_ to Florida."

"We can't go to Florida when you won't take your pain meds Karen, family needs to come first."

"I will take the pain meds if it means you will go." Karen told him. "Deal?"

"You promise you'll take them?"

Karen nodded her head.

"Alright..." Aaron mumbled quietly. He moved to stand from the chair but Karen grabbed his hand and stopped him.

"Before you go, I wanted to say something" Karen said as Aaron nodded his head and sat forward in his chair, his hand being firmly held by Karen. "When I first met you, I just knew there was something so special about you. Like you were destined to be a huge part of Emily's life."

Aaron let out a laugh, "Even though we were pretending to be a couple when we first met?"

Karen laughed too, "Even so. There was just something about you and something in the way that you looked at my daughter that made me realise you were the one for her. I was always a little pushy about Emily finding a nice man and I know it drove her completely _nuts_ , but I'm glad I did it, because if I didn't then she might never have brought you home to us." Karen said as she fought back her tears, causing Aaron to tear up as well. "You are the best thing to ever happen to her and I cannot tell you how proud I am to call you my son-in-law. You fill Emily with so much light and love and that little girl you made, my _god,_ she is _special_. She is a little slice of heaven on earth. So thank you for all that you have given Emily and all that you have given our family. We love you so much."

Aaron gulped as a tear escaped from his eye. He had never been a crier, but over the past few months he had never felt more overwhelmed with emotion. Aaron rested his other hand on top of Karen's.

"Thank you for everything you've done for me. For welcoming me into your family. I will be eternally grateful for you." Aaron told her quietly. He knew that this was a goodbye talk, even if he didn't want to admit it.

Karen smiled weakly at him. She knew she could leave this earth happily. All four of her children had beautiful families of their own and were thriving in life. What more could she ever want for them?

* * *

After a day of rallies and press junkets, Aaron and Emily had reached their final one. Aaron looked across the stage at Emily as the crowd cheered for them. While she had a wide smile on her face, but Aaron could tell she was antsy to get home. He was so proud of her through all of this. She had shown an unprecedented amount of strength over the past few months. In the midst of her own turmoil she had been with him every step of the way. He never felt alone even though she had every right to step back. As he looked at her now, he was overcome with joy and admiration and love that he knew would never end as long as he lived.

"I am only standing here today because of this _amazing_ woman by my side." Aaron addressed the crowd as Emily turned her head to look at him. "My sensational wife, Emily Rhodes."

He held out his hand for her which she immediately took as the crowd cheered for them.

"She has been my rock since the very beginning of this journey. She has been my rock since I was just a teenager. Always pointing me in the right direction, always challenging me to be better, always loving me no matter what. So, thank you Em. I love you." he said sincerely as Emily smiled at him and the crowds continued to cheer.

Emily felt a sense of peace wash over her. All Aaron had to say about her was exactly how she felt about him. He had been _her_ rock in an incredibly rough storm and she wasn't sure if she could have done any of this without him and she was so immensely proud of all he had achieved.

When they stepped off stage, Emily immediately turned around and placed her hands on Aaron's cheeks, "I am so unbelievably proud of you and thankful for you."

Aaron rested his hands on her forearms and smiled softly at her. "I couldn't have done it without you... but I think you should go home."

Emily frowned, "our flight's not until the morning."

"You have done so much for me here. More than you should have and right now, your family needs you."

Emily gulped and nodded as she looked into Aaron's sad eyes. She knew in that moment he knew that Karen's was ready to go tonight and he knew Emily would regret it if she wasn't there.

After a quick flight home, Emily stood by her front door, willing herself to go in. She didn't think she would ever be ready for this, but she didn't have a choice. She had to be strong. She put her hand on the door and slowly pushed it open, dropping her bag and making her way into the sitting room, where she found her brothers and her dad sitting around Karen's bed. They all turned to look at her with tears in their eyes which was all the confirmation Emily needed about tonight.

"Mom" Emily whispered. "Please don't do this." she had to ask one more time.

"Come here baby girl. Come sit next to me." Emily sat next to her mother as Peter sat behind her and Sam and Harry on the other side while John hovered at Karen's head. "Do you know how much I love you four?"

"No, you're going to have to stick around for a while and convince us." Sam told her as Karen chuckled lightly.

"No mother could _ever_ be prouder. I can leave this world knowing I made 4 very special people. Raising you was the best thing I ever did." she told them as they all fought their tears and failed.

"We couldn't have asked for a better mom." Harry said quietly as they all held onto Karen's hands.

"The election is only a few days away, I thought you were going to hold out until after?" Emily asked. All her mother could talk about was seeing her son-in-law become the next vice president of the United States. All Emily wanted was for her mother to live long enough to see it.

"I know baby, I tried, but I can't." Karen told her as she struggled to control her breathing. "I know what I am asking you to do seems awful, but if I could choose how I wanted to go, how I could die happy, it would be peacefully, in the arms of the 5 people I loved most in this world. Only you can give me that. Please give me that."

Emily looked at her brothers who all took a breath and nodded lightly at Emily. They went into the kitchen and decided they would do this together. Peter got the necessary pills, Harry crushed them, Sam mixed them in and Emily... she landed the hardest part of all. She helped her mother drink the concoction while the men in her life sat around her.

"I love you. I love you so much." Emily whispered as her mother finished her drink.

"Thank you, babies..." she said to her children as they all cuddled around her.

"Mom?" Emily whispered quietly as Karen moaned a barely audible yes. " _I'm pregnant_." she said as everyone's heads shot up, but they said nothing, knowing that this was just a moment between mother and daughter. Karen smiled as brightly as she could and squeezed her daughter's hand as tightly as she could. What wonderful news to be leaving this Earth with, she thought.

* * *

A short while later, Emily was lying beside Karen in the bed, while John held onto her hands and the boys sat at the sides of the bed, their hands rested on Karen's legs and their heads on the bed. Suddenly, Karen let out a groan and Emily jumped up.

"Mom? Mom? She's not breathing, _mommy_ " Emily said as she sobbed uncontrollably. "Dad call an ambulance" Emily begged, but he was like a ghost. He didn't move, he didn't blink. " _Dad!_ God, somebody call a _damn_ ambulance!"

Peter nodded his head and called the ambulance. It came swiftly and John rode with Karen while Peter drove his siblings straight to the ER. They ran in and saw a barrage of doctors and nurses trying to resuscitate Karen.

"She's gone into V-Fib, does your wife have a DNR?" the doctor asked John, but he stayed silent and simply stared at his wife's lifeless body.

"Just save her!" Emily begged.

"Does she have a DNR?" the doctor asked again.

"You're a doctor, you took an _oath_!" Emily bellowed as Harry grabbed onto her to steady her.

"She has a DNR." Sam finally said as the doctors nodded and stepped back from Karen, listening to the machine fall flat.

Emily sobbed uncontrollably and fell to her knees. She had never felt pain like this in her life. She felt like she was being torn in two. Her brothers fell the ground with her and held their little sister as tightly as they could. The whole thing felt like a dream, but they knew it couldn't be, because the pain that coursed through their veins was very real. Their mother was gone and they needed each other now more than ever.

* * *

While Peter and Sam stayed with John at the hospital, Harry took Emily home. She couldn't stay there for one more second, she felt like she was going to _explode_. As they walked into the house, Emily stood and took in the silence. She _hated_ it. She hated it _so much_. All she wanted was to hear Lexie's laugh and Aaron talking to his mother in loud and practically inaudible Spanish. She wanted to hear James playing which his new airplane, she wanted to hear her brothers playing football in the back yard, she wanted to hear Lenny and Vivienne gossip about the latest scandal from their old high school classmates, she wanted to hear her father talk about his latest clinical trial, she wanted to see Warner take the piss out of something stupid George had done, but more than anything—she wanted to see her mother standing in her kitchen, cooking up a storm, _talking_ up a storm and making outrageous jokes with the humour Emily once hated as a teenager and adored as an adult.

"Have you called Aaron?" Harry asked, breaking her out of her trance.

Emily shook her head, "Not yet."

"Ok... I'm going to go call Louise." he said, referring to his wife. Emily nodded her head and let Harry slip away.

She looked at the remnants of Karen's drug concoction and felt herself start to break down again. Before she could cry, however, her phone started to ring. She looked down at the caller I.D and saw that it was Dontae.

"Dontae, it's not a good time." Emily said quietly as her voice broke.

"Don't hang up." he said quickly. "You were _right_."

A few months ago, Emily had grown suspicious that there was a mole in the Moss campaign. Somehow, Lorraine was gaining information too quickly and Emily knew something had to be going on, she just couldn't put her finger on what.

"Lorraine definitely has a mole in Moss' campaign. It's his digital guy, Myles."

Emily shook her head, "Dontae, I'm sorry, I-"

"This is _way_ bigger than you thought. If I heard what I think I just heard, the two of them are messing with some _seriously_ illegal shit. Like _beyond_ Watergate illegal. It's called Pegasus. It's Israeli spy software and it lets you read text messages, track calls, collect passwords and remotely turn on a device and record without the owner's knowledge. This is tech that is only supposed to be available to governments to combat terror. This is _bad_ Emily. _End of the road bad_. You need to get to the campaign office."

"I'm sorry, I can't-"

Dontae continued to ignore Emily, "You have to get to her computer. See if she really has the software."

After protesting further and trying to hold it together, Emily finally agreed to sneak into the office and find what Dontae was looking for. She quickly left the house before Harry asked any questions and made her way round to the office. She briefly looked at her phone before she sat down and saw she had countless messages and missed calls from Harry, Aaron, Vivienne, Lenny, Warner, George—everyone. Harry must have freaked out when he realised she'd left and wasn't answering her phone.

She put her phone down and quickly started to scan through Lorraine's computer. Her initial search came up with nothing, but then she realised she would probably be more discreet than to name the file Pegasus. Soon enough, she found recordings from Moss' phone—recordings that revealed he didn't know about the bioterror attack that the government had just foiled, but were now blaming him due to some of his staff workers being involved. Emily felt like time froze all around her. Kirkman had just gone on national TV and called Moss a terrorist when he wasn't.

What the _hell_ was she going to do?

* * *

 **To be continued...**

 **Don't forget to review!**


	56. Consequences Be Damned

**So, here is the last chapter of my twist on season 3! I have loved writing this and I hope you have enjoyed reading it. I have some ideas where I would like this to go next, but most of my ideas are dependent on whether DS gets a 4** **th** **season, so I'm unsure how I'm going to play it.**

 **For now, enjoy this final installment and don't forget to let me know your thoughts!**

* * *

 **Consequences Be Damned**

* * *

After discovering Lorraine's illegal activites, Emily raced round to Vivienne and Warner's house and banged on the door. It quickly swung open and Warner immediately hugged Emily.

"Emily, we've been worried sick about you." Warner said. "Harry called us, said you'd gone AWOL."

"Is Vivienne here?" Emily asked as she walked into the town house.

"No, she's out with Lenny looking for you, I'll call her-"

"No, wait!" Emily said quickly.

Warner frowned, "Emily, what is going on?"

"Warner I need you to _not_ be my friend right now, I need you to be my attorney, ok? I was going to go to Lenny but she's on the White House Counsel, it's not a good idea-"

Warner gulped, concerned over where this was going, "Emily-"

"My boss bugged Moss's phone." she blurted out as Warner's eyes widened at her confession.

"... how long have you known?" Warner asked quietly.

"About a half hour."

"Who else have you told?"

"No one." Emily said as she shook her head. Warner could see that she was shaking and pulled her into the living room and sat her down. She couldn't even begin to imagine what was going through Emily's head right now. Her mother had just died and now she was being hit with some seriously illegal _crap_?

"Ok... take out your phone, you need to call the FBI." Warner advised.

Emily shook her head, "I can't do that."

Warner nodded, "You're afraid it will hurt Kirkman's chances. Did he know?"

" _No._ "

"You know that? Or are you guessing?"

"Warner, all Aaron and I have talked about since we started working for Kirkman is how honest he is and how he is not a politician, he is a good man, he wouldn't let this happen." Emily reasoned.

Warner ran his hand through his hair, not sure what to make of all of this. "You may or may not be doing him a favour by delaying... but I guarantee you are _not_ helping yourself. Every hour that you don't come forward, you're going to have to explain that to the FBI, to the federal prosecutor-"

"I get that Warner-"

"I don't know that you do Em. You are going through enough shit as it is, this is the last thing you need right now, _dammit_." Warner said, completely frustrated by all his friend was having to go through. "Look, Harry also called Aaron, he's on his way home so go back to the house and wait for him and try and get some rest, ok? We'll keep Lexie for as long as you need."

Emily nodded her head. She knew rest was the last thing she would be getting tonight. How could she possibly sleep when all of this was going on? She got up and walked to the door, but Warner quickly pulled her back and hugged her.

"I am so sorry Emily." she said quietly as Emily nodded her head and held back her tears.

* * *

Instead of going home, Emily made a probably rash decision and went straight to Kirkman. She played him the recording, she told him what she could without incriminating him or herself. The less he knew the better, but he needed to know that Moss didn't know about the attack. She left the recording with him to do with what he pleased, but she knew he would want to correct the record—consequences be damned.

She then slowly drove home, reality starting to hit her about the night. She had managed to push her mother's death to the back of her mind, but everything came flooding back to her and she began to feel overwhelmed. The most ridiculous thought came into her head as she pulled into the drive way. She sincerely hoped Tom won and Aaron became VP—because then she could move out of this house. The house that she had helped her own mother kill herself in.

She walked into the house and called out for Harry but there was no reply. She figured he must have gone out looking for her. She lifted out her phone to text him and tell him he was ok, but before she could the front door opened. She turned around and saw a frantic looking Aaron standing behind her.

They simply stared at each other for a moment, not really knowing what to say. Their lives were complete _chaos_. How could they say anything about that?

Aaron simply walked forward and hugged Emily as she broke down in tears. Tears of sorrow for her mother, tears of fear for her boss, tears of _relief_ that she was finally in her husband's arms again. He held her tighter than he had ever held her before as they sunk to the floor with their backs against the side of the staircase. He let his own tears fall as he felt his own heart tear in two at Emily's sorrow.

Soon enough, Emily's breathing started to steady out and Aaron realised she had fallen asleep in his arms. He wasn't surprised at all; this whole day had been unbelievably draining. He lifted her into his arms and carried her upstairs and got her into bed. He didn't even bother changing himself as he lay down beside her in his suit and held her, never wanting to let her go.

* * *

The following morning, Emily watched Aaron as he slept peacefully beside her. For a brief moment when she woke up, everything felt like a normal day and then reality sunk in. Her mother was dead, Lorraine bugged Moss, she could be indicted—she was _pregnant_. _Crap._ She _completely_ forgot about that. Imagine your life being so chaotic that you forget you're _pregnant._

After Vivienne and Lenny had planted the seeds in her head, Emily went out and bought a test, fully expecting it to be negative, but to her surprise the test came back positive, telling her that she was around 7 weeks along. She had planned to tell Aaron while they were in Florida but she never had the time. A part of her was glad that her mother was the first to know. That she could die knowing something wonderful was happening. Yet, a part of her was also miserable that her mother would never get to meet her baby.

Suddenly, Aaron's phone vibrating on the night stand and he groaned. He rolled over and checked his messages. He let out a sigh, "Lorraine is a _sadist_." he grumbled as Emily lifted her phone to check her messages. "She wants me Texas today for rallies in San Antonio, Austin and Dallas... it's not even 6am."

"That's a lot of breakfast burritos." Emily joked.

Aaron rolled back over and looked at Emily, "I'm not going."

"Yes, you are."

"Emily, no."

"Aaron, I'm ok—I mean, I'm not ok, but I just—I want to go to work. I want to see this campaign through, no distractions." Emily said as she got out of bed and went over to the mirror. She inspected the bags under her eyes before pulling her hair back.

"You can't just brush this off like it's nothing Emily-" Aaron said as he also stood up.

"That is _not_ what I am doing." Emily snapped. "My mother would not want me sitting around here moping. She would want me to go out and win this election and I can guarantee you that my brothers and my dad will _literally_ push me out of the house if I try to stay. I can deal with my pain when this is over."

Aaron nodded his head, realising that it was Emily's choice how she coped with this and he had to support her.

"Will you call me regularly?"

Emily smirked, "Probably not. But I'll watch you proudly on the TV as you win us Texas."

"I think Moss's serious indiscretions are going to win it for us..." Aaron grumbled as he took his clothes off to go for a shower.

Emily looked at her feet, "I'm uh—I'm still not 100% convinced that he was involved."

Aaron frowned, "Come on Em. His right-hand guy, his biggest donor, that cell phone video?" he said, rhyming off the evidence. "They're sure blaming Moss in Texas."

"Yeah, well, fasten your seat belts it's going to be a day." Emily merely said as she walked to the bedroom door.

"Emily... do you know something?" Aaron asked quietly. It was written all over her face. Something was going on.

"Just- the day before, things go bump." Emily said, neither confirming nor denying Aaron's suspicions. The last thing she wanted to do was drag Aaron into all of this. "Anyway, I'm going to shower and then go and see Lexie for an hour, make sure she doesn't think her parents have abandoned her, but good luck in Texas." she said with a small smile before turning and leaving the room. She figured now wasn't the time to drop the baby bomb on Aaron and decided in that moment to wait until after the election.

* * *

After the rallies in Texas, Aaron swiftly made his way home to be with Emily. He hated that he had to leave her right now but he knew how mad she would get if he hadn't have gone, not to mention what Lorraine would have done to him. While he was on the plane, he called Warner to check in.

"Hey man" Warner greeted down the line from his office. "How's it going? I just watched your speech in Dallas."

"Yeah, things are looking good for the election, it's almost worth the permanent nerve damage from shaking 8,000 hands." Aaron joked.

"Ugh, there's not enough hand sanitizer in the _world_..." Warner grumbled.

"Warner, we're going to win this thing." Aaron said quietly, but seriously down the line. He could feel it in his bones.

"Who would have thought? Quarterback Aaron Shore, supposedly corrupted by his two best friends in high school, is now the Vice President of the United States. Seemed like a pipe dream back then man."

"It still feels like a pipe dream right now..." Aaron told him truthfully. "How's Lexie?" Aaron asked. He felt extremely guilty that he'd spent zero time with his daughter over the past few days. He swore at the beginning of all this he would put being a father first and he felt like he was failing miserably. "I hate myself for not being there right now."

"Don't do the whole parental guilt thing Aaron, you're not being a dick about it, you have genuine reasons for not being here and Lexie's going to love you regardless." Warner told her. "And she's good, Jamie has loved having a playmate for the past few days, they really tire each other out. Vivienne said Emily came by this morning."

"Yeah, she said she was going to call over on her way to work... did Vivienne say how she seemed?" Aaron asked. Emily had completely shut down any possibility of talking about her mother right now, but he wondered if she felt different when she saw her best friend.

"Just that she looked a little sad. Viv asked her if she was doing ok and she said she was fine but she probably wouldn't say if she wasn't anyway."

Aaron sighed, "She is not even _remotely_ ok but she wants to get through the election and then deal with everything."

"Is that such a good idea?"

"I don't know man, I tried to tell her that it maybe isn't but she didn't want to hear it. Right now, she just needs my support and if that means waiting for her to come to me then, I'll wait." Aaron replied.

Warner nodded, "That seems fair. Listen, we'll keep Lexie until the election is over, I know things are completely crazed and you barely have time to even sleep-"

"I couldn't ask you to do that."

"You're not asking, we're offering. It's only, what? Two more nights? Then you can finally get your arms on your little girl."

Aaron nodded and gulped. He wanted nothing more than to hold his daughter tightly and never let her go. "Thanks Warner" he said quietly.

"Alright. We'll talk soon."

* * *

Emily was on her way to Warner and Vivienne's that night to help put Lexie to bed when Aaron rang her and told her that the President had invited them to the residence for drinks and dessert. She paused for minute before deciding to go. The campaign was over, there was no more to be done, the vote was tomorrow—and Kirkman said nothing about the recording. He didn't change the narrative, he didn't put out the fire, he didn't exonerate Moss—and she had _no_ idea why.

She cautiously walked into the residence and saw Aaron and Seth were already there enjoying a drink together. She watched as Aaron spotted her in his peripheral vision and a smile rose on his face as he turned to look at her. She gave him a weak smile in return.

"Emily, I'm glad you could join us." Tom said as he walked over to the drink's cart. "What can I get you?"

"Uh... just a club soda would be great." Emily said with a tight-lipped smile. After the few days she had had she wanted to be downing a single malt, but that wasn't exactly an option right now.

Emily took the soda from Tom and went to stand beside Aaron, "You ok?" he asked quietly as she merely nodded.

Tom raised his glass with a smile, "To all of you, who believed in me before I was sure I believed in myself and for helping me answer one of Emily's on point questions in early days; thank you all."

Emily looked down at her drink, "I thought it was to be a welcome break from politics as usual. Disingenuous and craven calculation. To restore integrity and honesty to the public sphere."

As she finished, she looked up at Tom with a knowing look as he didn't know what to say. He felt like he owed her nothing, but she clearly didn't feel the same. Aaron eyed her curiously, his suspicions only growing that she knew something he didn't.

"I'll drink to that." Seth said, trying to ease the obvious tension in the room.

The butler soon came in with a tray of desserts, "Ladies first" Tom offered.

Emily sighed, "Why not? Conscience be damned..."

* * *

Later that evening, they all stood to leave as Tom called Emily back for a moment. After telling Aaron she would meet him in the car, Emily held back, waiting to hear what Tom had to say. He justified himself by saying he didn't have the time to prove the authenticity of the tape and he wasn't about to risk the presidency on it. Emily couldn't believe what she was hearing, but what was one more let down to add to her ever growing list?

She and Aaron drove through the streets of Washington in complete silence. It was eating Aaron alive how withdrawn she had been all day. While he didn't necessarily blame her, he was thrown when she had a secret talk with Kirkman before they left. Something was going on and he was worried.

"Emily, what's going on?" he finally had the courage to ask.

"Nothing." she said courtly as she continued to look out the passenger side window.

Aaron's gripped tightened on the steering wheel, "Please don't lie to me."

Emily whipped her head around, "Why can't you just accept my answer? You don't need to know everything that's going on, you're not VP yet." she snapped.

"I'm asking because I'm worried about you Emily, something is clearly the matter, so let me help!"

"You can't!" Emily shouted as Aaron fell silent. "There is _nothing_ you can do to fix _any_ of this!"

In that moment, both of them realised Emily wasn't just talking about what whatever secret she had with Kirkman. She was talking about her mother and how broken she felt.

After a moment of silence, Emily decided to be as honest as she could right now.

"I feel like a little part of me has _died_ Aaron." she told him quietly. "And there is _nothing_ I can do to make it better. I helped my mother _kill_ herself. I can't just erase that; I can't just move past that and _you_ can't just kiss it better."

Aaron shook his head, "I'm not trying to just kiss it better Emily and I don't expect you to just get over it in a day and I hope _you_ don't just expect that of yourself either. You're allowed to grieve Emily, you _should_ grieve and I want to grieve with you. I can't make the feeling you have in your heart go away, but I can be there for you as you work through it. I can be your husband. That is all I am asking from you. _Let me be there._ "

Emily didn't respond and they simply drove the rest of the way home in silence. When they got there, Emily saw her dad sitting on the porch steps. Aaron looked over at Emily who was staring sadly at her father. He just looked so lost.

"I'm uh... I'm going to take a drive." Aaron simply said as Emily nodded and got out of the car.

Aaron took off down the road as Emily sat beside her father.

"So... the campaign is over, huh?" he asked. Emily couldn't quite believe that that was the first thing he said to her after her mother had died.

"Yeah. It's all down to the people now." Emily confirmed as she rested her hands on her knees.

"You did really good work sweetie, you should be proud."

"Thanks" Emily mumbled. "Where are the boys?"

"They're at a hotel. We're going to head back to Connecticut in the morning, make arrangements for the funeral. We'll keep you informed."

Emily nodded, "Are you going to be ok?" she asked quietly.

"I'll make it through. I have your brothers and you're just a short plane ride away." He said as he held on to her hand. "I think I might sell the house."

Emily's face fell. After her grandparents had died, that big old house she had grown up in officially became her parents'. She always just assumed it would be there, but then again, she always thought her mother would be there too.

"It's far too big for just me." John concluded. "Though, I'm not sure Peter's too keen on seeing it go so he might take it off my hands."

Emily smiled at her brother's action. "It would be nice to keep it in the family." She wanted to be able to take Lexie there in the summer to play in their huge garden, and one day, take her new baby there too.

"Yeah, it would be. You know... you showed an incredible amount of strength yesterday. You stood by your mother and you honoured her wishes, even though every part of you was telling you not to." John said as Emily felt herself tear up for what felt like the thousandth time this year. "I am so ridiculously proud to say that you are my daughter and while I miss your mother and will always miss her terribly... I can see her in you already and that is a _beautiful_ gift."

"I love you. _So_ much." Emily said quietly to her father as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Oh I love you too... and I can't wait to meet this little baby of yours." he said with a soft smile.

Emily let out a laugh, "Aaron's going to kill me when he finds out you all knew before him."

John smiled, "No. He'll think it was just right that we knew first."

Emily sat with her father for a short while before her brothers pulled in her drive. They all quickly hugged and Emily looked at the four men and smiled softly.

"I know this is going to sound completely ridiculous but... do you guys want to play some football?"

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Right now?"

"Yeah" Emily said "I just—I was thinking today about how we used to play football all the time in the garden and it's one of my favourite memories in the entire world and it's just so simple and you have to hold on to the little things in life. It's the little things that make it all worthwhile."

The boys smiled at her and nodded, "You're on Rhodes." Sam said as he went into the garage and grabbed a football.

Emily played outside with her brothers for a while, though they were extra careful with not sacking her considering she was pregnant. They laughed and they had fun and John even smiled as he watched them. While they knew they would always have a hole in their hearts where Karen used to be, they knew this is exactly how she would have wanted it.

* * *

When Aaron arrived home last night, he was surprised to hear Emily humming in the kitchen. As he walked in, he saw her cooking something at the stove. She was a pretty terrible cook, but she made this incredible pasta dish that Aaron couldn't get enough of. He watched her for a few moments and saw that she looked _peaceful._

"Hi" he greeted quietly as Emily turned around and smiled softly at him.

"Hi. I thought you might be hungry." she told him as he walked over to her.

"Smells amazing." he said as he rested his hand on her back and kissed the side of her head. "Are you ok?"

Emily nodded, "Yeah. I mean I'm still very, very sad and I probably will be for a long time, but I am ok and I know I will always be ok... because I have you by my side. No matter what."

"Yeah. You will." Aaron confirmed.

"There uh—there's also something else to be happy about." she told him.

"Oh yeah?" he asked as he stole some of the peppers sitting on a chopping board as Emily slapped his hand away. "What's that?"

"Well... I'm pregnant." she said.

Aaron froze and a smile immediately fell on his face, "Really?"

Emily nodded, "Yeah. I wanted to tell you when were in Florida, but I never got the chance and I told mom just before she died and it was a really wonderful moment and I'm sorry you didn't know sooner-"

Aaron lifted Emily in his arms and held her tightly, his face beaming. "That sounds like a perfect moment." he told her as she smiled back and hugged him tightly. "How are along are you?" he asked as he moved back so he could look at her.

"About 7 weeks, so pretty early days... looks like the world is getting that 2nd baby the tabloids were on about." Emily joked.

Aaron let out a laugh, " _We_ are getting a second baby... and it's just amazing. I love you." he said as he wiped away a stray tear that was rolling down her face with his thumb.

"I love you too." she said with a smile before leaning up and kissing him.

* * *

The following day, Emily had noticed Lorraine eyeing her curiously all day. Apparently, she had asked Dontae if something was going on with her, but he refused to give up any information other than the very obvious fact that her mother had just died. But Lorraine wasn't buying it. She knew there was something else going on. She had been off with her for a few days now.

Before she could think too much about it, however, news came in that Tom had won the election. They had taken Texas from Moss and they had won. Tom had a second term, Aaron was the new VP and things were looking positive for the first time in what felt like forever.

"So, Mr. Vice President..." Emily said as she walked over to Aaron at the celebratory party. "How does it feel?"

"Pretty good... I have a lot of pride right now, which should maybe be frowned upon but uh—I'm going to soak it up for now." Aaron told her as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"And rightly so." Emily said as she put her own arm around his waist. "Oh hey, look" Emily pointed through the crowd. Aaron looked up and smiled widely when he saw Lucy.

"Lucy!" he called as she quickly rushed over to him and hugged her brother.

"Aaron! Oh my god, this is _amazing_! Congratulations!" she said excitedly. "I don't know how to thank you for getting me in to this _sweet_ party." she said with a laugh. "Emily, you look amazing, as always... and I'm really sorry about your mom."

"Thanks Lucy." Emily said sincerely as she felt Aaron squeeze her waist.

"So... my big brother is now vice president of the United States... that gets you some _serious_ cool points." Lucy joked.

Aaron chuckled, "Well if I ever need reminded how cool I am I'll be sure to come to you."

"Sir, it's time." one of Aaron's secret service men said as he nodded.

"I'll catch you later Luc" he said as he gave her one last quick hug. "Come on" he said as he pulled Emily's hand to head up on stage.

The crowd roared as Emily and Aaron appeared. Aaron walked to the podium and introduced Tom who came out with Penny and Sasha by his side. The crowd roared even louder for their President. As Tom went to make his speech, Aaron walked back over to Emily and held tightly on to her hand.

Everyone listened attentively as Tom gave his speech, but Emily's mind was elsewhere. She watched as the FBI approached Lorraine and asked her to come with them.

" _... the person that I could not have done this without, standing right beside me from the start, is your new vice president and my friend, Aaron Shore!"_

As Lorraine walked past the stage she grabbed Emily's arm and pulled her down to speak to her, Aaron looked on confused, but tried to not turn his attention to it.

"I knew you were treacherous but I didn't take you for this _stupid._ " Lorraine spat, finally realising why Emily had been so off the past few days. She knew about Peagsus and she had gone to the FBI. "You just tainted the greatest victory in Presidential history. Look at you, high on the fumes of your moral superiority. You are the one who leaked Moss' gene results because you thought no one was looking. Hell, they way I heard it, you couldn't even kill your poor mama right."

"You are a _fucking monster_." Emily spat back.

"I know what I am. I'm someone who wins. But what the _fuck_ are you?" Lorraine challenged, as the FBI officer pulled her away.

Emily stood up straighter as Aaron looked at her completely confused. He didn't hear all Lorraine said, but he heard enough to know that it was nasty and vindictive.

"I would also like to take a moment and add a particular thanks to Emily Rhodes, who has been with me from the very beginning." Tom said as he turned to smile at Emily who was trying her hardest to look attentive. "She has seen me at my best and most assuredly at my worst and whose highest of high standards I will _always_ endeavour to meet."

The only thing that ran through Emily's mind was _Lorraine is right_. Her few hours of peace were dashed in one second. Who did she think she was? She was supposed to keep the president honest, but how could she harp on about morals when she couldn't keep them herself?

Emily felt so lost and confused standing on that stage. Her husband was so happy and she wanted to relish in it with him, but she _couldn't_. Not when she felt like a fraud. She leaked Moss' results, she helped her mother kill herself, she wasn't exactly the most honest chief of staff either. No matter the smile she plastered on her face, no matter what principles she spouted, she couldn't help but think:

 _I am so full of shit._


End file.
